FUJIFILM Corporation (President and CEO: Shigetaka Komori) has announced that it will launch the next-generation inkjet digital press "Jet Press 720" for the Japanese market on December 1, the first printer in the world that achieves high-speed printing with 4-level grayscale at 1200dpi*2 on B2 sized sheet (maximum paper size: 750mm x 530mm), delivering image quality exceeding offset printing. Such high performance is achieved through the single-pass system*1, in which a printhead is aligned in straight line to increase the print width so that printing completes in one pass of a printhead.

Jet Press 720 uses the inkjet digital printing technology that combines Fujifilm's inkjet material technology and FUJIFILM Dimatix's (California, U.S.; hereinafter FDMX) printhead technology to offer high productivity as an advanced printing system.

Today's commercial printing has seen the surge of high-mix low-volume production, with more and more orders coming in as short-run units. Short-run printing typically involves quick start-up and suited for digital printing, which does not require the plate making process of offset printing. Until now, there were no digital printers that were capable of delivering the level of print quality equivalent to offset printing on B2 sized sheet. Many printing companies are forced to utilize offset presses for short-run jobs even if such devices are more suitable for large-volume printing. Introduction of Jet Press 720 is expected to bring innovation to the printing industry with its dramatically improved printing productivity.

Jet Press 720 is an inkjet digital printer capable of handling large-size output at high speed and high quality, made possible by using the world's first high-density and high-precision single-pass 1200dpi MEMS*3 printhead that has been newly developed, in combination with water-based pigment inkjet ink.

Jet Press 720 uses RAPIC technology*4 that coagulates pigments in ink rapidly to achieve sharp, bleed-free prints, and incorporates the proprietary four-level grayscale system*5 for grayscale reproduction to deliver high-quality printouts on a level exceeding offset printing in photographs, illustrations as well as text.

Single-pass printing provides the capability that the printer can output as many as 2,700 B2 sized sheet per hour (equivalent to 180 A4 sheets per minute). Yet, unlike offset printing, the printouts do not require extended drying time, and can be passed on to cutting, binding and other post-processing operations smoothly, making it possible to meet clients' request for quick delivery. Despite being an inkjet printer, this model can print on a diverse range of printing papers already available*6, rather than requiring specialized paper.

In addition, Jet Press 720 has received the Good Design Award 2011 (host: Japan Institute of Design Promotion)

Fujifilm has long been a leading company for printing materials and devices. It continues its worldwide development, production and marketing of a diverse range of pre-press products, such as CTP plates for offset printing, workflow software and plate setters. Fujifilm will continue to develop and provide epoch-making products in the ever-growing digital printing market, thereby contributing to the development of the printing industry around the world.

*1 A system in which printing on a recording medium (paper) completes in one pass of a printhead, making it suitable for business printing that requires high-speed output

*2 While the resolution is 1,200dpi, the size of each dot can be varied in 4 levels (none, small, medium and large) to achieve the image quality equivalent to 2,400dpi.

*3 MEMS stands for Micro Electro Mechanical System. It is a general term for technologies used to create 3-dimensional electronic and mechanical structures on silicon substrates on the micrometer level, and manufactured parts using such technologies. It is also known as MST (Micro System Technology).

*4 RAPIC stands for Rapid Pigment Coagulation Technology. It coagulates pigments in ink rapidly to prevent smudging and achieve image reproduction of high precision.

*5 A system that combines dots with sizes in four varying levels (none, small, medium and large) to achieve high precision output

*6 The use of some types of paper may be restricted.