The idea behind any device that has it's own calibration routine is that the self calibration allows it to be consistent over time eliminating the need for frequent re-profiling. With these devices the mantra is "profile once, calibrate many." As long as the calibration is good, the profile is valid. That's the theory at least and that's what I'm hoping for with Canon's newly updated printers.
Epson's stance without self calibration is interesting. Piezoelectric have historically been quite stable. But I'm noticing that printers in the field that see regular 4+ hours a day use do change over time. With constant use the heads open up, start putting down more ink and the shadows slowly start to plug up. The process is so slow that people rarely notice it. I'm finding that re-profiling Epson annually is a good policy for photo labs and print shops that use these printers heavily. Casual users rarely have to re-profile during the lifespan of their Epson. It will be fun to analyze iPF and Z printers in this respect.
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=127202\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]
You are quite right on high cycle duty printers. It is not only the differences in flow that count in variation of output but also of heads that are clogged partially or fully , permanent or temporary.
The new Canon x100 series are as I read it , going to use a colorimeter to read densities on solids colors to build a LUT with corrections for the known characteristics of the media used in the calibration. This is exactly what the HP Photosmart 9180 does. In the end it is a calibration of the writing system that doesn't take into account the media qualities or characteristics, nor any effects that operating conditions would have on the media at the time of calibration.
It is a good step towards maintaining a control working condition, and makes changing the heads possible at any time without changing profiles or saved spooled jobs for reprints.
I do feel this is necessary for pro printers with thermal heads as a minimum requirement. It will give more consistent results with the canned profiles but not as good as spectro based calibration , nor calibration /profiles made per media.
