Okay, lots of people want to print on gloss papers, I was one of those whose entire printing experience during a photographic career was with that medium. But things have changed now and the digital print is something else.
If one considers how digital prints get used, I suppose that the majority are either collected in a box and left there or, perhaps, those selected better ones are framed behind glass. If that´s the case, then I really question whether it matters a hoot if the original material is glossy or matt.
When you look at a good (great, if you prefer) black/white print on matt paper that´s held behind a sheet of glass, you get as much tonality out of that as you would from a glossy paper one. If you doubt this, just try it out for yourself. What seems to be a flatter print, with an apparently lower max black, suddenly looks like something far better when so framed. So, take two identical prints, frame one and then look at them both side by side. You´d be amazed by the changes.
The point of this, I suppose, is that the answers exist already - you just have to think of the final context of the pic and the present material, which has been available for a long time, gives you what you need. Since the newer material is also still vulnerable to surface scratching, then not a lot has moved on and the only answer for prints that will be handled a lot is still genuine, WSG photographic paper of the olde school.
Just my opinion, for what it´s worth, but don´t hold back waiting for utopian solutions; print it now!
Rob C
