INTERNATIONAL SIGN EXPO, Orlando, April 6, 2006 – HP is demonstrating the power of its digital graphic arts portfolio for the wide-format and super-wide-format printing industries with an interactive booth at the 60th annual International Sign Expo. The portfolio, featuring HP Designjet and Scitex solutions along with HP inks and media, is designed to help print shops grow their digital service offerings and generate new business opportunities. “As part of our overall imaging and printing growth strategy, we are targeting the signage industry, which is estimated to grow at a compound annual rate of 27 percent(1),” said Dov Ofer, vice president and general manager, Inkjet Industrial division, HP. “Our broad portfolio of HP Designjet and Scitex products will help accelerate the industry-wide transformation from analog to digital in the large-format graphics marketplace.” Announced earlier this year, HP will be highlighting its new low-solvent HP Designjet printer series designed for the fast and easy production of outdoor graphics, including banners, window graphics, vehicle graphics and decals. For the super-wide market, the company will also feature its HP Scitex products, which produce high-quality, high-impact materials for virtually any super-wide format printing need. HP's display at ISA 2006 will include: •The HP Designjet 9000s – The fastest printer in its class(2), the HP Designjet 9000s prints at speeds of 176 sq ft per hour at 720 x 720 dpi, and 220 sq ft per hour at 540 x 720 dpi. Its high print speeds and low printing costs help accelerate return on investment, enabling Print Service Providers to produce durable and impressive signs within minutes. •The HP Designjet 8000s Printer series – Offering a breakthrough price/performance combination, the HP Designjet 8000s is ideal for a wide range of large-format applications, printing 88 sq ft of vivid, long-lasting color output per hour at 720 x 720 dpi. •The HP Designjet 5500 Printer series – This high-end wide-format printing system is capable of turning around photo and fine art prints at some of the fastest speeds available – without compromising image quality. With print speeds up to100 sq ft per hr output for glossy, 189 sq ft per hr for coated and 569 sq ft/hr when using maximum speed mode, the HP Designjet 5500 Printer series offers superb image quality, consistent color and ease-of-use, making it an excellent choice for print service providers, GIS professionals and graphics designers. •The HP Scitex XL1500 – This digital printing system provides a comprehensive solution for virtually any super-wide format printing need. Offering high-speed printing with consistent, high-quality performance, the HP Scitex XL1500 enables super sharpness and clarity, easy color switching, perfect registration, vibrant, life-like color and total flexibility to print any application, regardless of size, format or media. •The HP Scitex TJ8300 – Designed to meet the high-speed, high-quality and low cost printing demands of the screen-printing and offset industry, the HP Scitex TJ8300 will demonstrate its impressive color range and productivity, as well as its superior image quality, which are all available at its low, affordable cost. The HP Scitex TJ8300's drum printing technology makes it faster than competing printers, providing it with the ability to print up to 4,305 sq ft per hour at 448 dpi on a wide range of standard media, including uncoated banner stock, self-adhesive vinyl, Tyvek and canvas. Throughout the show, HP will be hosting product demonstrations of its wide-format portfolio at its booth, # 4316. Customers Winning with HP Large-Format and Super-Wide Solutions By using HP technologies, a wide range of print providers are improving the quality of the work that they deliver their customers. The image quality and ease-of-use of HP's large and super-wide-format solutions has allowed HP customers to take wide-format printing to the next level. Progressive digital printing firms such as The Color Place, Vincent Printing and Propaganda Prints exemplify how businesses benefit and growth with the HP large-format and super-wide format technologies on display at the International Sign Expo. •Dallas-based The Color Place has embraced HP's large-format solutions by manufacturing graphics to increase its revenue and expand the services offered to customers. Using the high quality and productivity of the HP Scitex XL1500, the company produces a range of digital graphics, including, signage, building wraps and vehicle wraps. Its super-wide-format services, part of a range of digital graphics solutions that The Color Place offers, enhances the value of its total digital graphics portfolio offering for retail, advertising and corporate markets. •Vincent Printing, Chattanooga, Tenn., began printing small movie posters for theaters, and has evolved into a top-tier digital graphics solutions provider. Getting the maximum benefit from its HP Scitex XL1500 and HP Scitex TJ8300 printers, Vincent Printing is able to efficiently produce a wide range of digital print materials, providing customers with a high-impact presence through banners, billboards, point-of-purchase displays and other products. •As an early user of the new HP Designjet 9000s Printer, Propaganda Prints, Barcelona, Spain, is generating new profit opportunities in the solvent outdoor signage market. According to Arnau Sallent, general manager, Propaganda Prints, “The HP Designjet 9000s Printer's low-solvent solution adds outdoor graphics applications to our business, greatly reducing our production costs. Only HP could give us the confidence and peace of mind to safely and successfully expand into this field.” Among the new business Propaganda earned with its new HP Designjet 9000s Printer was an extensive outdoor signage job producing banners, lightpole banners, and other digitally printed items for the 2006 Sundance Film Festival.