Mutoh marked this year’s Fespa show with the introduction of two new printers, XpertJet 1682SR Pro and the XpertJet 1341WR Pro, which almost completes its switch from the old ValueJet brand. Both printers use Mutoh’s AccuFine printheads, which appear to be Epson PrecisionCore I-series heads.
The XPJ-1682SR-P is a revamped version of the existing XPJ-1682SR, with the main difference being that the Epson printheads have been upgraded to the latest PrecisionCore versions. As such, it’s a 1.6 meter-wide eco-solvent printer aimed at the sign and display market. It uses two of Epson’s I-3200 heads, which are arranged in a staggered configuration. Since these heads have four color channels each, this allows a choice of configurations with either two sets of CMYK or an eight color inkset of CMYK plus light cyan, light magenta, light black and orange. Mutoh claims that this new Pro version is up to 180% faster than the standard version, which is mainly due to the faster printheads.
It features Mutoh’s fourth generation Intelligent Interweaving technology, called I-Screen, which has been adapted to work with dual staggered printheads. Naturally, it also comes with Mutoh’s own VerteLith RIP software.
It’s compatible with Mutoh’s existing MS41 ink, as well as a brand new ink, MS51, which only comes with CMYK colors. This is a GBL-free ink that Mutoh says it has developed itself but which I believe has been developed with NuTec of South Africa. It’s main feature is that it dries very fast, which should allow for faster turnaround times.
The second new printer, the XPJ-1341WR Pro is a 127cm wide dye sublimation printer. It features a single AccuFine 1600 print head, which is really an Epson I-1600 head. In essence it appears to be a smaller, cheaper alternative to the existing XpertJet 1642WR Pro model, which is 162cm wide and uses two of those heads. Mutoh is quoting sellable production speeds up to 29.2 square meters an hour.
It uses Mutoh’s genuine DS3-series HC dye sub inks. HC stands for ‘Increased Colorant’ which means reduced ink consumption, faster drying and compatibility with lightweight papers. The DS-3 inks come in degassed 1 kilogram pouches for reliable jetting, excellent image definition and sharpness.
This year also marks a triple anniversary for Mutoh, with Mutoh Japan celebrating its 70th anniversary, Mutoh Germany its 50th while Mutoh Europe is 30 years old this year.
You can find more details on Mutoh’s range of printers from mutoh.eu
(This article is reprinted by permission from nessancleary.co.uk)
