Last week, we rang in the new year with an overview of the current state of roll-to-roll wide-format machines. This week, we’ll take a look at the state of flatbed printers. And it has been a good year for flatbeds, and those who are looking to invest in then, particularly at the lower end of the market. Where once flatbeds were super-high-end behemoths affordable only by a scant few—and the scant few who could fit one in their shop—new flatbed models have been appearing on the market at a size and, more importantly, a price point that more and more shops can afford.

Flatbed wide-format is virtually synonymous with ultraviolet (UV) inks, as it is the ink technology that has enabled the versatility of these machines and allowed them to print on virtually any surface. Over the past several years, EFI has led the charge in the transition from traditional mercury vapor UV curing to LED or so-called “cold curing.” It’s not a new technology—some of Fujifilm’s earliest units were LED-based—but the same forces that have driven changes in the lightbulb aisle at Home Depot (away from energy wasting bulbs like incandescents to newer, long-lasting and energy efficient LEDs—good for the electric bill, bad for an Easy-Bake Oven) are making LED lamps less expensive to integrate into flatbed printers. EFI has repeatedly reiterated its intent to completely support the technology in all its UV offerings, and the company’s recent introductions bear this out.

EFI has been concentrating on the hybrid (flatbed and roll-to-roll) market, and in last week’s feature we mentioned 2015’s introductions of the 3.2m hybrid VUTEk HS125 Pro and the 3.2m hybrid VUTEk GS3LX Pro LED for the high end. EFI has also launched the entry-level 1.65m hybrid EFI H1625-SD UV printer, which comes with EFI SuperDraw UV ink for near-photographic imaging on thermoformable substrates. EFI also launched EFI Armor, a new line of UV coatings that add three- to five-year weather and chemical protection to inkjet output.