Eden Prairie, MN – February 12, 2007: MacDermid ColorSpan, Inc., the world’s leading supplier of UV-curable inkjet printers for the display graphics market, today unveiled its newest line of multi-functional UV inkjet printers. The ColorSpan 5400uv series is a family of four printers based on a completely new, revolutionary product design. Targeted at small to medium-sized sign and print shops, the printers combine the ultra-high print quality typical of an aqueous thermal inkjet printer, with the outdoor durability of a solvent printer, with the media versatility and cost savings of a UV-curable inkjet printer. Starting at a US MSRP of just $54,995, the four models consist of the ColorSpan 5440uv (4-color), ColorSpan 5445uv (2 x 4-color), ColorSpan 5460uv (6-color) and the ColorSpan 5465uv (2 x 6-color). All four models have a 54-inch (137cm) print width and feature a set of integrated tables that fold up and can extend outward to accommodate rigid media in excess of 8-feet (244 cm) in length. The tables fold down and out of the way for printing on roll-fed media while conserving precious floor space. The ColorSpan 5400uv series uses the latest generation variable drop volume piezo-electric printheads. Each industrial-quality, extended-life printhead can eject variable-sized micro droplets to achieve addressable resolutions of 600x300, 600x600 and 1200x600-dpi. The 5460uv and 5465uv six-color models achieve even higher apparent image quality — up to 1800-dpi. Designed for operator simplicity, they use a patent-pending self-maintaining printhead service station that fully maintains the health of the jets and printheads while idle or in service. This hands-off design eliminates any need to manually clean the printheads and ensures that the printer is always ready to print, even after an extended idle time. Bruce Butler, director of marketing, stated, “As producers of the best selling UV printers in the world, we’ve learned a lot from our customers. We listened to what they like and their suggestions for improvements and built that into our design criteria for the ColorSpan 5400uv series. We have combined the best features of various inkjet technologies in one product that is compact in design, yet big on performance.” Butler went on to say, “The ColorSpan 5400uv series of printers gives you 1200 to 1800-dpi image quality for the most demanding indoor P-O-P applications, yet has an outdoor display life that rivals, and in some cases, exceeds solvent printers. Its innovative flatbed / roll-fed design and the ability to print directly onto nearly any material, makes it the next logical step for those needing to upgrade their HP 5500s and want to skip past the problems and high costs associated with mild solvent and eco-solvent printers.” Other Product Features Color Touch-screen Display — The printer’s operator control interface uses a 7-inch color touch-screen display panel. Its dynamic graphical user interface is simple to use and the printer’s status (such as ink levels, print quality settings, UV lamp status and media configuration) are visible at a glance. Auto Adjustable Head Height — The printer uses a highly-accurate media thickness sensor and precision motor-driven mechanisms to automatically adjust the printhead height to accommodate a wide range of materials up to 1-inch (25.4 mm) thick. Due to its precision, there is no need to perform bi-di calibrations between material changes. Production-Oriented Speed — Designed-engineered as a production sign system, the ColorSpan 5445uv and 5465uv use two piezo-electric printheads per color. These printers boast a top print speed of 388 ft2 (36 m2) per hour in their 600x600-dpi Billboard Quality print mode or their 600x300-dpi Production Quality print mode. The ColorSpan 5440uv and 5460uv using one printhead per color are one-half the speed of the other two models. SolaChrome-UV inks — Extended Gamut, UV-curable, pigmented inks, available in cyan, magenta, yellow, black, light cyan and light magenta. Each comes in a sealed one-liter container that allows for easy, no-mess ink changes while protecting the ink from light exposure. SolaChrome-UV inks, which have no solvent odors, are designed for reliable jetting, low maintenance, extended head life, low cost of operation ($0.05 to $0.25 per ft2) and long-term outdoor display life – 2 to 3 years unprotected and up to 7 years using Avery® cast vinyl and digital over laminates. SolaChrome-UV inks cure instantly and print directly on inexpensive uncoated rigid and flexible substrates for durable, indoor and outdoor graphic applications. Advanced Automation Eye — Only found on ColorSpan printers, it consists of a high-resolution imaging sensor, colorimetric spectrophotometer, and embedded software to automate the setup and calibration steps critical for achieving and maintaining print quality. AutoSet Calibration – analyzes dot placement of printed patterns and automatically sets the head-to-head alignment and bi-directional (bi-di) dot placement alignment to compensate for variable print speeds, head height settings and media thickness. AutoJet Calibration – eliminates banding in prints and extends the useful life of the printheads by mapping out an individual jet that is not up to performance standards and compensating by using another jet in its place. AutoTune Scheduler – schedules the AutoJet calibration to occur during long unattended print runs to ensure maximum print quality and minimize waste or reprints. AutoEdge Detection – uses the image sensor to aid in the loading of rigid materials by detecting right, left and leading edges allowing the printer to move the material into an exact position for printing. Color Calibration – the on-board spectrophotometer supplies color data to the external RIP’s color management software. The color management system then adjusts the color to ensure accurate and consistent color. Color Profiling – using the on-board spectrophotometer, the ColorSpan 5400uv series prints and automatically reads hundreds of color swatches to allow the RIP and color management software to create custom ICC color profiles for 3rd party media. Markets With its ability to print directly onto rigid display materials, the ColorSpan 5400uv series of printers are ideal for sign makers, screen printers and other print-for-pay service providers that produce indoor and outdoor signs, and point-of-purchase and exhibit displays by greatly reducing their production, finishing and labor costs. They provide double-duty with their ability to print on flexible roll stock for the high-speed production of outdoor signs, banners, in-store graphics, and other high volume work. The lack of solvents and other built-in safety features enable them to be operated in a normal office environment making them suitable for corporate and franchise operations. It is the ideal addition for digital image providers who want to increase their productivity and expand their capabilities with a UV printer that costs far less than competitive printers.