I was interested to read the joint statementfrom leading vendors in the digital proofing space relative to what they categorized as the "unexpected" cancellation of the 6th Digital Proof Forum, which was scheduled to take place on September 21 and 22 in Wuppertal, Germany. According to the statement, the vendors, including AGFA, CGS, EFI, Fujifilm, Kodak and PerfectProof, were concerned that "the focus of the results for the comparative tests concentrated increasingly on the figures after the decimal point in respect of the Delta E values." The vendors were, they say, working with the event organizers, bvdm and ECI, making constructive suggestions for improvements.

Delta E measurements are probably no longer a meaningful category in these types of events. Every entry came in at an average Delta E of 1.5 or less. When there can be more variance from one side of the press sheet to the other than from proof to press sheet, Delta E becomes a non-differentiator.

While I suppose it is unfortunate that the event was cancelled, I really wondered whether this event was needed at all. Earlier this year, I wrote about the IPA Technical Conference and its fourth annual Proofing RoundUP. While the event still looked at Delta E as an element of the evaluation of the various entries, it also considered several other factors, including: