Screen Holdings Co., formerly Dainippon Screen Mfg. Co, Ltd is based in Kyoto, Japan. The company’s roots and imaging expertise date back to its founding in 1868 as Ishida Kyokuzan Printing Works. In 1918, it began its evolution from a printing company to a manufacturer of imaging technology and products after receiving its first patent for “Transparent Film Letterpress for Lithographic Transfer.” In 1934, the company created glass screens for photographic reproduction of halftone plates. In 1943, it began to focus on manufacturing tools for photographic reproduction. These tools included horizontal process cameras, and a wide range of film-based contact screens to replace the glass screens developed earlier.

In 1957, SCREEN began to develop electronic components for television camera manufacturers based on some of the imaging technology developed in its screen business. In 1962, it began marketing Fairchild Inc’s scanner in Japan, and subsequently began to develop more technology internally. This included an electronic plate engraver, internally developed scanners, electronic page makeup systems, digital film recorders and platemakers. In 1976, it started to produce equipment used in the production of displays, and today that includes everything from LCD televisions to smartphones. In 2006, it started a semiconductor production equipment business. In 2016, it further leveraged its expertise in imaging technologies to develop advanced production systems for the printed circuit board industry. Today, SCREEN is considered one of the leaders, and its equipment is used by TSMC and others.

In this article, we will look at the commercial printing space. SCREEN introduced its first production inkjet press as the continuous-feed Truepress Jet 520 in 2005. For those who have been following the evolution of production inkjet, you know that this corresponds with the introduction of the InfoPrint 5000, originally an IBM Printer product, manufactured by SCREEN and subsequently acquired by Ricoh. SCREEN and Ricoh still have a very good relationship, and collaborate on design and manufacturing some of their equipment. Although while their corresponding presses may seem the same, there are some key differences in each.