Dongguan, China - Citing a surge in market demand for its Spectra brand printheads that began in 2008 and more recent design mandates for its new, high-performance Polaris Q-Class units, FUJIFILM Dimatix is calling the China Sign Expo 2010 a resounding success and a sign of greater things to come.

More than 40,000 sign industry professionals from all over the world attended the China Sign Expo held in the International Exhibition Center here from March 2nd through 6th, 2010. Nine of the leading Chinese printer manufacturers and dealers showed 34 wide-format printers based on FUJIFILM Dimatix Spectra brand printheads in the 30,000 sq-m show floor. Of those, 22 were powered by new Polaris PQ-512 series Q-Class printheads.

"For FUJIFILM Dimatix, for the OEM manufacturers who design and build the printers and for the dealers who sell them, China Sign Expo 2010 was an outstanding show!" said Howard Baldwin, Vice President of Sales.

"In the 3.2-meter category our high-performance, ultra-slim Polaris PQ-512/15 and new PQ-512/35 printheads dominated by every meaningful measure the wide-format product offerings on the show floor, while the new Polaris PQ-512/85 printhead helped to break the performance barrier on a 5-meter grand-format printer using only two printheads per color to produce 200 sq-m/hour in two-pass mode" Baldwin exclaimed.

The shared physical features and identical interfaces common to all Polaris models allow the printhead to be easily used across many different printer models and applications. Everything from a 15 picoliter close-up viewed point-of-purchase or 85 picoliter long-distance viewed graphics to a 200 picoliter coating on differing media with different ink types are covered by an extensive range of drop sizes and compatible ink types.

Commenting on the versatile Spectra Polaris series, Jiang Hong, CEO of Runtianzhi Flora remarked, "I have been waiting for this type of printhead for many years. The new Spectra Polaris family of heads from Dimatix is taking inkjet to a new level in performance with the highest speed and quality in the market today. The additional water capability, along with traditional solvents and UV-curing inks, can serve a wide variety of applications."

Other leading manufacturers and dealers also featured FUJIFILM Dimatix printhead designs.
- Wit-Color Digital Science & Technology Co. presented seven Polaris-based printers, including two it debuted as part of its new 3.2-m 4-head Smart Polaris series, which is capable of imaging media at resolutions up to 720 x 600 dpi and at rates up to 85 sq-m/hr.
- Zhejiang Gongzheng Technology Development Co., Ltd. showed six Spectra-based 3.2-m devices, including five utilizing from two to six Polaris PQ-512 series heads that were capable of imaging up to 600 x 800 dpi at rates from 23- to 46 sq-m/hr.
- Teckwin International debut its new TS3000 flatbed featuring 12 Polaris PQ-512/15 printheads, and also showed its UV3200 design with eight Polaris PQ-512/15 heads.
- Anhui Liyu Computer Equipment Manufacturing Co., Ltd. displayed its PS3208 wide-format featuring eight Polaris PQ-512/15 heads.
- Honghua Digital Technology Stock Co. Ltd featured six Spectra-based printers, including three machines powered by the Polaris PQ-512/15 and the new PQ-512/35 and PQ-512/85 printheads.
- Major printer dealers Yong Xiang and Beijin Technology Development Co. showed Agfa GandiJet and DGI Polarjet, and Honghua Nano printers powered by FUJIFILM Dimatix Spectra brand S-Class and Nova, and Skywalker printheads, respectively.

Spectra Polaris PQ-512 printheads utilize the binary operating capability of Dimatix' VersaDropTM jetting technology and Q-Class hybrid construction to deliver ink drop sizes from 15 to 200 picoliters from 512 individually addressable nozzles at frequencies up to 45 kHz fired at 8 meters/second velocity with exceptional straightness.

Polaris series printheads are compatible with a broad range of inks, including UV-curable inks and aggressive organic solvents, making them suitable for a variety of commercial and industrial printing applications such as wide-format, label and package printing, at resolutions to 1000 dpi. An integral mounting bezel designed with precision registration points enables drop-in alignment - a unique feature that allows each 256-channel jet module to be exchanged and accurately registered in the field without the need for special tools or recalibration.