Digital printing at 400 feet per minute

It probably won’t fit on your home desktop, but HP’s Inkjet Web Press platform should appeal to print service providers looking to accelerate their transition from analog to digital printing. Offering four-color (CMYK) production printing at an addressable printing resolution of 1,200 x 600 dots per inch (dpi), the HP Inkjet Web Press can churn out prints at the rate of 400 feet (122m) per minute using the latest generation of HP Thermal Inkjet printheads based on the company's Scalable Printing Technology.

Compatibility with a wide range of media types and weights, including uncoated offset stock, newsprint, and treated and coated papers gives printers plenty of flexibility, while the use of a unique bonding agent technology for the press improves image quality and durability on a wide range of uncoated offset media. Additionally, HP is developing optimized coated and treated paper solutions for HP pigment inks and the HP Inkjet Web Press to offer even greater media choice.

Courier, the third largest book manufacturer in the US, has entered into a pilot program to test the printer and James F. Conway III, chairman and chief executive officer of Courier says, “the excellent quality of the books produced on HP’s new press is comparable to books produced by offset. Together, we will be able to help publishers operate with lower inventory levels and reduced obsolescence.”

HP’s Inkjet Web Press is on show at an open house event at Los Angeles-based O’Neil Data Systems – site of the first HP Inkjet Web Press beta installation.

Darren Quick