www.wilhelm-research.com Category: 4x6-inch Printers Updated September 8, 2006 (page 1 of 5) WIR Display Permanence Ratings for Current Products in the 4x6-inch Photo Printer Category
WIR v3.0 Endpoints at Both 1.0 and 0.6 Densities Type of 4x6-inch Dye-Sub Photo Printer, Inkjet Printer/Inkjet Paper, With Cool White Fluorescent Illumination and (1) Years of Display Based on 450 lux/12 hrs/day And Digital Silver-Halide Color Paper/Digital Minilab Photo Printer With Prints Framed Under Glass(2)
1. Epson PictureMate Pal, Snap, and Flash Personal Photo Labs (PM200, PM240, PM280) 96 years – Printed with Epson PictureMate 200 Series Ink and Glossy Photo Paper (dye-based inkjet prints)
2. HP Photosmart 325, 335, 375, 385, 422, and 475 Compact Photo Printers 82 years(3) – Printed with HP Vivera Inks (HP 95, 97, 343, or 344 Tri-color cartridges) (dye-based inkjet prints) With HP Premium Plus and HP Premium Photo Papers, High Gloss, Glossy, or Soft Gloss
3. Canon Selphy DS700 Compact Photo Printer (dye-based inkjet prints) 41 years – Printed with Canon BCI-16 tricolor ink cartridge and Canon Photo Paper Pro PR-101
4. Fujicolor Crystal Archive Type One Paper (silver-halide color prints) 40 years – Printed with Fuji Frontier 370 digital minilab and Fuji washless chemicals
5. Kodak EasyShare Printer Dock, Plus, Series 3, and 6000 Printers (dye-sub prints) 26 years
6. Dell Photo Printer 540 (dye-sub prints) 26 years
7. Kodak Edge Generations and Royal Generations Papers (silver-halide color prints) 19 years(4) – Printed with Noritsu QSS-3011SM digital minilab and Kodak washless chemicals
8. HP Photosmart 145 and 245 Compact Photo Printers (dye-based inkjet prints) 18 years – Printed using HP No. 57 Tri-color cartridge with HP Premium Plus and HP Premium Photo Papers, High Gloss, Glossy, or Soft Gloss – Printed with HP No. 57 Tri-color cartridge and 11 years(5) Kodak Ultima Picture Paper, High Gloss (Ultima ColorLast “Lasts Over 100 Years” version)
(6) 9. Konica Minolta QA Paper Impresa and Centuria For Digital (silver-halide color prints) 17 years – Printed with Konica Minolta R2 Super 1000 digital minilab and Konica washless chemicals
10. Lexmark SnapShot P315 Photo Jetprinter (dye-based inkjet prints) 16 years – Printed with Lexmark 33 or 35 color ink cartridges and Lexmark Premium Photo Paper
11. Olympus P-10 Digital Photo Printer (dye-sub prints) 8 years
12. Canon CP-200, CP-220, CP-330, CP400, and CP500 Printers (dye-sub prints) 7 years
13. Sony DPP-FP30 PictureStation Photo Printer (dye-sub prints) 6 years
14. Sony DPP-EX5, DPP-EX7, and DPP-EX50 Printers (dye-sub prints) 4 years
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Notes on These Tests: Table 1. “Standard” Home Display Illumination Levels Used by Printer, Ink, and Photo Paper Manufacturers 1) This WIR Display Permanence Ratings document fo- cuses on the rapidly growing dedicated 4x6-inch photo printer category and includes data for 4x6-inch dye-sub 120 lux/12 hrs/day 450 lux or 500 lux/10 hrs/day or 12 hrs/day photo printers, 4x6-inch inkjet photo printers, and 4x6- inch silver-halide color prints produced by digital Fuji minilabs. The 4x6-inch (or somewhat smaller) print has Hewlett-Packard long been the most popular print size in the worldwide Epson consumer traditional and digital photofinishing market. Canon Most larger “letter size” inkjet printers can of course Lexmark Ilford also produce prints on 4x6-inch paper, and print per- Konica Minolta manence information for these printers can be found Agfa-Gevaert elsewhere on the Wilhelm Imaging Research website. Kodak DuPont Likewise, digital minilabs can also produce print sizes Ferrania larger than 4x6-inches. InteliCoat Kodak, Sony, Canon, Olympus, and other manufac- Somerset turers of dye-sub printers are the only suppliers of color Arches ribbon and paper “packs” for their respective printers. LexJet To date, third-party “compatible” color ribbons and pa- Lyson pers have not entered the market, and for this reason Luminos the Display Permanence Ratings given here will apply. Hahnemuhle On the other hand, a wide variety of “compatible” American Inkjet inks and media are available for inkjet printers and the MediaStreet reader should be aware that use of papers and inks other than those listed may produce drastically different – usually inferior – permanence results. Digital minilabs 673–679, sponsored by the Society for Imaging Science generally can use “compatible” silver-halide papers and and Technology, Salt Lake City, Utah, November 2004. processing chemistry so the Display Permanence Rat- See also: Henry Wilhelm, “A Review of Accelerated ings given here apply only to the specific silver-halide Test Methods for Predicting the Image Life of Digitally- papers, processing chemistry, and digital minilab print- Printed Photographs – Part II,” Final Program and Pro- ers listed. ceedings: IS&T’s NIP20 International Conference on Digital Printing Technologies, pp. 664–669, sponsored 2) Display Permanence Ratings (DPR) are based on ac- by the Society for Imaging Science and Technology, Salt celerated light stability tests conducted at 35 klux with Lake City, Utah, November 2004. Also available in PDF glass-filtered cool white fluorescent illumination with the format, with color illustrations, from:
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Table 2. Filtration Conditions Used by Printer, Ink, and which, with most print materials, increases the rate of Paper Manufacturers with CW Fluorescent Illumination fading compared with fluorescent illumination filtered by ordinary glass (which absorbs UV radiation with wavelengths below about 330nm). Some print materi- UV Filter Glass Filter als are affected greatly by UV radiation in the 313–365nm region, and others very little. Fuji “Gas fading” is another potential problem when Hewlett-Packard prints are displayed unframed, such as when they are Epson attached to kitchen refrigerator doors with magnets, Canon pinned to office walls, or displayed inside of fluorescent Lexmark illuminated glass display cases in schools, stores, and Ilford offices. Field experience has shown that, as a class of Agfa-Gevaert media, microporous “instant dry” papers used with dye- Kodak Konica Minolta based inkjet inks can be very vulnerable to gas fading DuPont when displayed unframed and/or stored exposed to the Ferrania open atmosphere where even very low levels of ozone InteliCoat Somerset and certain other air pollutants are present. Arches In some locations, displayed unframed prints made LexJet with microporous papers and dye-based inks have suf- Lyson fered from extremely rapid image deterioration. This Luminos type of premature ink fading is not caused by exposure Hahnemuhle to light. Polluted outdoor air is the source of most ozone American Inkjet found indoors in homes, offices and public buildings. MediaStreet Ozone can also be generated indoors by electrical equipment such as electrostatic air filters (“electronic dust precipitators”) that may be part of heating and air nants; this precaution applies to traditional black-and- conditioning systems in homes, office buildings, res- white and color photographs as well as inkjet and other taurants, and other public buildings to remove dust, to- types of digital prints. Displayed prints framed with ul- bacco smoke, etc. Electrostatic air filtration units are traviolet filtering glass or ultraviolet filtering plastic sheet also supplied as small “tabletop” devices. generally last longer than those framed under ordinary Potentially harmful pollutants may be found in com- glass. How much longer depends upon the specific bustion products from gas stoves; in addition, micro- print material and the spectral composition of the illu- scopic droplets of cooking oil and grease in cooking minate, with some ink/paper combinations benefitting fumes can damage unframed prints. a great deal more than others. Some products may WIR tests for resistance to ozone using an acceler- even show reduced life when framed under a UV filter ated ozone exposure test (conducted at 23°C and 60% because one of the image dyes or pigments is dispro- RH) and the reporting method outlined in: Kazuhiko portionately protected from fading caused by UV radia- Kitamura, Yasuhiro Oki, Hidemasa Kanada, and Hiroko tion and this can result in more rapid changes in color Hayashi (Seiko Epson), “A Study of Fading Property In- balance than occur with the glass-filtered and/or the doors Without Glass Frame from an Ozone Accelerated bare-bulb illumination conditions. Test,” Final Program and Proceedings – IS&T’s NIP19: For example, if a UV filter protects the cyan and ma- International Conference on Digital Printing Technolo- genta inks much more than it protects the yellow ink in gies, sponsored by the Society for Imaging Science and a particular ink/media combination, the color balance Technology, New Orleans, Louisiana, September 28 – of the image may shift toward blue more rapidly than it October 3, 2003, pp. 415–419. does when a glass filter is used (in which case the fad- Tests for resistance to ozone are conducted with an ing rates of the cyan, magenta, and yellow dyes or pig- accelerated ozone exposure test using a Hampden Test ments are more balanced in the neutral scale). Keep in Equipment Ltd. Model 903 Automatic Ozone Test Cabi- mind, however, that the major cause of fading with most net (with the test chamber maintained at 23°C and 60% digital and traditional color prints in indoor display con- RH) and the reporting method outlined in: Kazuhiko ditions is visible light and although a UV filter may slow Kitamura, Yasuhiro Oki, Hidemasa Kanada, and Hiroko fading, it will not stop it. Hayashi (Seiko Epson), “A Study of Fading Property In- Illumination from bare-bulb fluorescent lamps (with doors Without Glass Frame from an Ozone Accelerated no glass or plastic sheet between the lamps and prints) Test,” Final Program and Proceedings – IS&T’s NIP19: contains significant UV emissions at 313nm and 365nm International Conference on Digital Printing Technolo-
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gies, sponsored by the Society for Imaging Science and rial when it is stored in an album, portfolio box, or other Technology, New Orleans, Louisiana, September 28 – dark place. Arrhenius data are only applicable when October 3, 2003, pp. 415–419. WIR test methods for prints are protected from the open atmosphere; that is, ozone resistance are described in: Michael Berger and they are stored in closed boxes, placed in albums within Henry Wihelm, “Evaluating the Ozone Resistance of Ink- protective plastic sleeves, or framed under glass or high- jet Prints: Comparisons Between Two Types of Acceler- quality acrylic sheet. If prints are stored, displayed with- ated Ozone Tests and Ambient Air Exposure in a Home,” out glass or plastic, or otherwise exposed to the open Final Program and Proceedings: IS&T’s NIP20 Interna- atmosphere, low-level air pollutants may cause signifi- tional Conference on Digital Printing Technologies, pp. cant paper yellowing within a relatively short period of 740–745, sponsored by the Society for Imaging Science time. Note that these Arrhenius dark storage data are and Technology, Salt Lake City, Utah, November 2004. for storage at 50% RH; depending on the specific type Also available in PDF format from
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Over 100 Years – Update – May 8, 2004, Eastman Kodak Important Note: On January 19, 2006, Konica-Minolta sud- Company, Rochester, New York. Available as a PDF denly announced that the company would be withdraw- from
6) The papers included in these tests, Konica Minolta QA Paper Centuria For Digital and Konica Minolta QA Pa- per Impresa For Digital, are newly introduced silver-ha- lide papers optimized for the extremely short unit-area exposure produced by the scanning RGB lasers and LEDs in digital minilabs as well as the specialized rapid- process chemistry supplied by Konica Minolta for the company’s digital minilabs. The paper is also sold in Asia under the name of Konica Minolta QA Paper Golden Dragon For Digital. All three versions of the paper have identical image permanence characteristics. Related papers sold under the names of Konica Minolta QA Pa- per Centuria Type A9, Konica Minolta A Paper Impresa Type A9, and Konica Minolta QA Paper Golden Dragon Type A9, were not included in these tests. However, sunlight and xenon arc test data for these papers sup- plied by Konica Minolta indicates that the Type 9 pa- pers have somewhat inferior light stability compared with the new and improved “For Digital” versions.
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