Lod, Israel; December 10, 2001 - NUR Macroprinters, a leading supplier of wide-format and superwide digital printing systems and consumables for out-of-home advertising announced today that first customer shipments of the NUR Fresco(TM) HiQ series of wide-format digital production printers, introduced in mid-September, have commenced following successful beta testing at sites in Europe, Asia and the U.S. Both the NUR Fresco HiQ 1800 (6 foot or 1.8 meters wide) and 3200 (10.5 foot or 3.2 meters wide) models, and an upgrade kit that makes the HiQ enhancements available for the more than 100 NUR Fresco units already installed worldwide, are available now for commercial shipment. Italtelo s.r.l. of Montichiari, Italy, a digital printing company that produces promotional graphics including vehicle graphics and spectacular signage for national and international sporting events had been using an original NUR Fresco for over six months before the company installed and began beta testing the HiQ enhancements in early November. Comments Alessandro Giacomini, president of the company, "Since installing the upgrade we've been printing 16 hours a day, 6 days a week and the machine never stops. We feel that based on the speed, reliability and text quality results we have seen since our upgrade, this is no doubt a totally new machine!" Beta test site in Asia, Big Vision Pvt. Ltd. of Mumbai, India echoes Giacomini's comments. Says Shailesh Visaria, managing director, "We've been favorably impressed with the enhancements to the machine's performance and reliability. In particular, the printhead warranty has considerably reduced our operating costs; printhead life is no longer an area of concern." U.S. Beta tester Inkjet International Inc. of Dallas, TX, a company specializing in volume wholesale superwide format printing, upgraded from a NUR Fresco 1800 to a NUR Fresco HiQ 3200 (in addition to his other NUR printers) about three months ago. Says Jittu Sarna, Inkjet International president, "The HiQ machine's performance is better and the life of the print heads has increased substantially. Additionally, the color quality has improved so I can match almost any color that my customers want. The bottom line is it works great!"