September 9, 2003 -- IFRA Expo 2003 will be the European debut for two new low-cost newspaper CTP products from ECRM Imaging Systems. ECRM NEWS and ECRM NEWSmatic, follow the company’s passion to make CTP more widely available, by the delivery of quality, reliability and flexibility at an affordable price. ECRM NEWSmatic The NEWSmatic is a fully automated newspaper CTP system, targeted at local and regional newspapers, requiring peak-time production of up to 80 broadsheet plates per hour. At a groundbreaking price of US$84,500, it will also appeal to larger newspapers and contract printers, where multiple plate lines are commonly used to provide higher productivity and/or output back up. The NEWSmatic achieves its low price though a simple design, combining a straight-through plate path with ECRM’s, proven Violet imaging technology. In operation, plates stored in a light-tight cassette are automatically positioned against the integrated register system, before being moved under the imaging laser by precision drive rollers. Exposure is by a long-life violet diode at any one of eight resolutions up to 2540 dpi. To provide flexibility to match its target market, the NEWSmatic has an output format which covers all popular web widths and press cut-offs, up to a maximum double-broadsheet format of 645 mm x 927 mm. The optical configuration also includes anamorphic resolution sets as well as image scaling from 85% to 110%. Two laser versions are available - 5mW for silver halide plates or 30mW for photopolymer plates – these give compatibility with the key CTP plates on the market and a maximum productivity of 80 and 60 broadsheet plates, respectively. ECRM News The ECRM NEWS CTP system has a similar features to the NEWSmatic but is manually loaded and sells at US$70,000. “NEWS CTP is as easy to operate as a contact frame,” confirms Peter Wilkens, VP Worldwide Marketing at ECRM. “This means that newspapers can move to CTP production with minimum change to their workflow.” Being manually fed, the NEWS CTP also provides a very fast change between imaging formats, from a single tabloid page to a double broadsheet. This can be an important asset for busy contract printers using more than one press for a variety of newspaper and heatset work. “The ECRM NEWS series has been designed to complement the production from single-width presses, such as the Goss Community, whether they are used for newspapers or semi-commercial work. This market needs CTP solutions that are flexible, robust and cost effective. The advantage is not just in the price. They are both easy to install, operate and maintain, keeping investment and ongoing running costs to a minimum.” To simplify operation and integration, the registration system of the NEWS series is compatible with the widest range of plate finishing and bending systems. This eliminates the need to change existing plate workflows or to purchase expensive optical punching systems. Each system is supplied with a PC platform, CtServer integration software and an online-processor bridge.