ROCHESTER, N.Y.--Aug. 28, 2001--Eastman Kodak Company announced today a wide-format inkjet printer that will change the marketplace for commercial printing by providing unprecedented print speed and image quality at a price that's a fraction of alternative printing technologies. The Kodak Professional 5260 Inkjet Printer is powered by a proprietary technology called Dynamic Contone, which accelerates production speed without compromising image quality by varying the size of ink drops in real time. The 5260 represents the company's most aggressive effort yet to claim a larger share of the $2.4 billion wide-format inkjet market. Kodak unveiled the device today at a company-sponsored event in Singapore, kicking off a worldwide introductory tour that leads to product availability in the fourth quarter. The Kodak Professional 5260 Inkjet Printer has a suggested U.S. list price of $29,995. "Until now, a large portion of the market faced that all-too-common tradeoff between production speed and output quality,'' said David Swift, President, Kodak Professional, and a senior vice president of the company. "The 5260 gives customers the ability to compete for printing jobs they might have turned away previously, thereby driving growth and providing access to new market opportunities.'' The 5260 is Kodak's most recent contribution to infoimaging - a $225 billion industry created by the convergence of images and information technology. The infoimaging industry is characterized by three markets: devices, such as the 5260, infrastructure, and services and media. This convergence will allow professional printers to work with images more efficiently than ever before. The introduction of the 5260 is part of a larger plan by Kodak Professional to introduce a series of printers that employ piezo inkjet print head technology, six colors and Dynamic Contone printing. The result is a combination of image quality and productivity unmatched by any wide-format inkjet printer available today, including output of up to 500 square feet per hour at 300 dots per inch with an "apparent resolution'' that is three to four times higher. Side-by-side comparisons of Dynamic Contone images and those printed at much higher traditional dpi resolutions are virtually impossible to discern from one another. The 5260 printer supports both dye and pigment based inks for added flexibility, and accommodates a wide range of media - including paper, film, vinyl and canvas - for indoor and outdoor applications. The printer accepts up to 62-inch-wide media, and standard roll lengths are managed easily by precise automated feed and take-up systems. In order to address the challenge of high print speeds with photographic quality, Kodak also has developed new Kodak Professional Instant-Dry photographic media - optimized for use with the 5260 printer. This new product combines the high image quality afforded by photo-grade media with the ink absorbency of other media types. Kodak Professional Instant-Dry photographic media is available in both satin and gloss finishes. When used with the 5260 printer and its dye-based inks, print life - in terms of light stability and ambient fade - is superior to leading piezo competitors. This Kodak ink/media combination delivers outstanding color gamut that remains consistent even when laminated.