Specialist pre-press and digital solutions supplier Screen UK has partnered with Roland DG (UK) to add a powerful yet cost-effective UV-curable platform to its existing wide-format product family. This agreement will result in greater penetration for Screen UK into the display and flexible packaging prototyping market segments which complements the company's existing systems for the inkjet, offset and flexo markets.

The Roland VersaUV LEJ-640 is a combination flat-bed and roll-fed wide-format printer designed and manufactured for high standards of finish on a variety of applications where durability and excellent ink adhesion are required. It incorporates CMYK, white and clear making it ideal for customised graphics and displays as well as packaging prototypes.

The addition of the VersaUV LEJ-640 to Screen's current product portfolio of inkjet solutions brings a high quality but low investment point to users who either want an auxiliary machine or who are entering the digital wide-format market for the first time. The inclusion of white ink makes it ideal for working with non-white and transparent materials, such as window films, whilst the clear varnish can be used to generate special finishes and textures.

"We have been increasing our presence significantly in the wide-format arena and needed a solution with a lower price point but which didn't compromise on production standards," says Bui Burke, Screen VP Sales. "Logically it made perfect sense to form a partnership with Roland DG at the quality end of inkjet printers. As we both have head offices and manufacturing in Japan, this gives us a natural synergy."

Screen UK introduced the Roland VersaUV LEJ-640 to a diverse range of end users at the company's recent Widescreen 2011 event held at its Milton Keynes UK headquarters. This open house proved to be the ideal location for launching the partnership as it was supported by material and finishing specialists and attended by customers interested in investing in specialist inkjet solutions.

The addition of the 1.62m Roland VersaUV LEJ-640 augments Screen's existing wide-format UV-curable platforms, and the company sees the machine complementing the capabilities of its own Truepress Jet2500 2.5m system. It will appeal to commercial printers wanting to extend into inkjet production at a realistic price point, as well as to existing customers who need to add to their digital capabilities with a versatile solution which can be used to output on to rigid and flexible materials.

The Roland VersaUV LEJ-640 perpetuates the company's philosophy of producing wide-format inkjet platforms which lead on innovative technology and capabilities. Designed to be easy to use, the machine features rear and front folding tables to support rigid substrates up to 13mm thick and 250 x 1625mm in size, with fast change-over to roll-fed mode.

Incorporating low cost, long life LED curing, the Roland VersaUV LEJ-640 is claimed to have the lowest power consumption in its class, and utilises Eco-UV inks and a maximum output resolution of 1440 x 1440dpi. It is supplied with Roland VersaWorks production software which includes full support for the Roland Color System for accurate reproduction of spot colours, plus 72 ready-to-use textures that can be applied to designs incorporating clear varnish.

Mat Drake, Business Manager – Commercial Print, at Roland DG sums up: "We're seeing increasing opportunities within the offset litho and flexo sectors for users wanting to reap the benefits of a quality wide-format device. Our partnership with Screen UK enables us to combine experience and resources for print companies looking to bring proofing, prototyping and a wide range of print options in-house."