One of my enduring memories of PRINTING United 2019 was overhearing an attendee saying, “What’s all this wide format stuff doing here?” Someone obviously didn’t get the memo that the emphasis of the show was UNITED, as in all the various “silos” that comprise today’s printing industry would be represented. Then again, our surveys have routinely found that, for the past several years, even pre-pandemic, about 30% of the industry has no interest in getting involved in wide-format printing. (I should also take this opportunity to point out that our current Print Business Outlook Survey is currently in the field, and you’re invited to take a few moments and fill it out. I’ll wait.) 

Anyway, we’ve finally recovered from PRINTING United and will take one last look back at some of the announcements at the show. Many of the major product introductions and what some vendors were showing were highlighted in this preview article, so this recap will cover what I saw at the show itself. It is by no means meant to be comprehensive.

HP had an entire section of one hall to itself, and showcased its various technologies in all the sectors of the industry in which it is active (i.e., all of them). In the wide-format space, they were demonstrating a new Latex series, the Latex 2700. This line of 3.2m (126-in.) rollfed printers is said to be 50% faster than previous Latex models and features symmetrically doubled printheads to boost print speed, inks with a higher pigment load and the units thus use less ink, and the ability to print on a single roll or dual rolls. There are four models in the series—the Latex 2700, Latex 2700 W (adds white ink), Latex 2700 Plus (includes Jumbo Dual Roll and Ink Collector kits, which are optional on the base units), and the Latex 2700 Plus W (adds white ink). HP’s emphasis with the new series was to boost efficiency, and the ability for print providers to launch new applications and products.