Epson announces new p800.

[Wayne Fox]

New printer finally announced.

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/epson-unveils-new-surecolor-p800-17-inch-wide-professional-printer-300065190.html

Similar to 3880, 80 ml cartridges but one big difference is Roll paper adaptor is available.

[MHMG]

I'm currently testing the P600 and UltraChrome HD ink set. I think some of my findings for the P600 and the new UCHD ink set are likely to hold true for the P800 as well. Some initial DMAX info for the PK black already reported here: http://www.aardenburg-imaging.com/news.73.html

This article will get fairly regular updates as I discover more about print quality, printer reliability, light fastness, etc. The project is ongoing.

cheers,
Mark

[Randy Carone]

Epson's website says the printing length  of the P800 is 22". Twenty two inches?? Very strange for a printer that can handle rolls. Their 3800/3880s print to 37+" using the Epson driver. I wonder if they offer 'banner' mode, which may be a work-around for the print length limitation.

[MHMG]

Epson's website says the printing length  of the P800 is 22". Twenty two inches?? Very strange for a printer that can handle rolls. Their 3800/3880s print to 37+" using the Epson driver. I wonder if they offer 'banner' mode, which may be a work-around for the print length limitation.

It better be a typo . Otherwise, Epson's going to hear a lot of negative feedback on that one!

cheers,
Mark

[howardm]

they made the same specification for the 3880 since that (22") is the longest sheet Epson sells.  They dont
talk about the 37" limit because they dont offer paper that long.  Once the roll adaptor is added, I'd bet there is
some electro/mechanical widget/interaction that tells the printer to 'go long' (ie. you probably cannot print >37" w/o the roll adaptor).

I wonder if the roll adaptor is 'driven' in any form or just a glorified broom handle

[Telecaster]

Bingo! This'll be my next printer (assuming >= 3880-level performance). 

-Dave-

[Torbjörn Tapani]

Exciting news! I think this will be my first photo printer

A quick google to confirm news gave me this quote "When using roll paper, prints can extend up to 10 feet for banners and panoramas."

[MHMG]

Exciting news! I think this will be my first photo printer

A quick google to confirm news gave me this quote "When using roll paper, prints can extend up to 10 feet for banners and panoramas."

That notwithstanding, many users of 17" printers also enjoy 17x25 inch cut sheet paper for unabridged FX format images. I guess one might have a sporting chance of loading a longer cut sheet into the printer, but telling the driver you are using a roll. We shall see

cheers,
Mark

[Ernst Dinkla]

Wonder if it will stay in the 180 nozzles per channel category that made the 38x0 models so reliable or goes for the 360 nozzles. With the roll feature added it could mean the end for the 4x00 models range too. No specifications to find yet.

Met vriendelijke groet, Ernst

http://www.pigment-print.com/spectralplots/spectrumviz_1.htm
December 2014 update, 700+ inkjet media white spectral plots

[hugowolf]

Epson's website says the printing length  of the P800 is 22". Twenty two inches?? Very strange for a printer that can handle rolls. Their 3800/3880s print to 37+" using the Epson driver. I wonder if they offer 'banner' mode, which may be a work-around for the print length limitation.

The US website also had this problem with the 3880. 17" x 22" is the largest borderless print size, not the maximum print size.

It will be interesting to see if they have increased the pixel limitation beyond 30k. It would seem that they have managed to get beyond the 95 cm (37.4 inch) limitation.

But still the PK/MK switching. Really.

Brian A

[Wayne Fox]

Official page at Epson.com is now up.  http://www.epson.com/cgi-bin/Store/jsp/Pro/SeriesSureColorP800/Overview.do?ref=van_p800

Looking at the specs there is an image of the roll feed adaptor, and it appears to be more robust than typical of some of these printers (remember the 2200 roll feed?)  It appears to be somewhat similar to what I have in the 11880 and easily could have some "geared assistance".  The price also seems to indicate it's more than just a place to hold a roll of paper.

As far as nozzle density, based on output speeds which seem faster it may be 360 nozzles instead of 180 per channel. However, Epson has produced many printers with 180 nozzle density that had plenty of issues (the original 4800?) so here's hoping whatever made the 3880 so reliable made it's way into the new printer.

It does appear that for a 17" printer this will be the best choice for most.  The 4900 offers some nice features, and of course the extra gamut with orange and green, but the new blacks and dMax may be more appealing and if it does match the 3800 in reliability then a sweet machine for sure.

As far as fading, I guess the printer can have a small affect on this because dither's and screens may change how much actual ink ends up on a print (set me straight on that mark), but I think the biggest factors are the ink itself and the paper it's on, so it should perform nearly the same as the p600.  I'm excited to see Mark's results, Wilhelms results so far certainly looks promising.

[John Caldwell]

Regarding the add-on roll accessory: It is likely that there is a built-in paper cutter, or will we be left with manually cutting prints? I don't recall how the 2200 worked in this regard.

I wish the 4900 was friendly to 7" wide sheet stock, as one might use in printing 5x7" getting cards. Does the 3800 cries allow 7" stock, and if so, might the p800 work for card printing?

John-

[Wayne Fox]

Further information ...

1st the good news, basically the same head as the 3880, 180 nozzles/inch so hopefully similar reliability.

Unfortunately, now the not so good news, no cutter.  Makes using roll paper a little bit of a pita, but at least it can be done somewhat effectively unlike the 3880.

[Eric Myrvaagnes]

The roll holder on my old 2200 was totally useless. I gave up on it very quickly, and never missed it once I upgraded to the 3800, which is still working just fine.

I've been expecting to have to replace the 3800 with a 3880 soon, but now I guess I'll wait until the p800 has some meaningful user reports.

[Wayne Fox]

The roll holder on my old 2200 was totally useless. I gave up on it very quickly, and never missed it once I upgraded to the 3800, which is still working just fine.

Agreed. I tossed mine after trying it once.

This one appears to be better designed. Here's a picture from epson.  Appears similar to the 4900 roll holder.

[Paul2660]

"An optional 17-inch wide roll paper adapter is ideal for canvas and longer print lengths of up to 10 feet for creating breathtaking panoramas."

This statement is in the original link, so 10' may be the limit. 

It will be interesting if the new ink set address current printing issues present with their other pro series, like bronzing and gloss differential. 

Paul

[JRSmit]

Apparently they are not using the precisioncore head technology as Epson has been boasting for more than a year or so?
Also looks like the P600 can deliver smaller inkdrop size (2pl for P600 vs 3.5pl voor P800)?
Wondering as to why not the new printhead technology.

[Jager]

Hopefully Epson will include full 80ml carts with the new P800 (versus 'starter' carts) - something that made the 3880 an exceptional value.

[MHMG]

"An optional 17-inch wide roll paper adapter is ideal for canvas and longer print lengths of up to 10 feet for creating breathtaking panoramas."

This statement is in the original link, so 10' may be the limit.  

It will be interesting if the new ink set address current printing issues present with their other pro series, like bronzing and gloss differential.  

Paul

Epson claims "40% reduction" in bronzing with the new ink set and gives an illustrative raking-light photo of a print surface which seems promising, but Epson doesn't claim it's eliminated.  I've had the P600 only a few days now and haven't had a chance to really study the bronzing issue exhaustively, but if you are a person (like me) who truly dislikes bronzing so much that you break out the Print Spray in order to fully eliminate it on all glossy and luster prints, then it's clear the new ink set hasn't really changed anything. In fact, I've been scratching my head trying to figure out why I'm not seeing any difference at all between a multi hue color target I printed on Premium Luster with both the 3880 and the P600. Using the Epson supplied ICC profiles for both printers, the prints are very close in overall color and tone (slight edge going to the P600 for better Dmax and smoother dot structure), but as I walk the two prints side-by-side around my home to compare them under different illuminants,i.e., angle them various ways, place them in direct sun, indirect north light through a window, or under Solux 4600K lamps, I just can't convince myself that bronzing is any better on the P600. Ditto for differential gloss and overall gloss. Bronzing shows up mostly in the same color blends but with some different color patches exhibiting various degrees of bronzing as well when comparing to the 3880 print. The diffuse qualities of the incident light and the specific angle of view seems to affect (enhance or diminish) the observable bronzing in an essentially identical way.  So, try as hard as I have already to induce obvious differences, I walk away thinking "Six to one, half a dozen the other". Problem not resolved.

I regret to say that we are still at a point with pigmented aqueous inkjet technology where bronzing is best eliminated by an additional gloss optimizer channel (which the Ultrachrome HD set doesn't have) or with an externally applied overcoat like Premier Print Shield.

kind regards,
Mark
http://www.aardenburg-imaging.com

[johncustodio]

Mark-
I just read your report on the p800. I was wondering if the low Dmax in some cases could be caused by the profile used. What would happen if you sent out a black patch (RGB=000) directly to the printer, bypassing any profile, and then measuring that to see what the printer/paper/ink combination can produce? You could also convert your test image to the profile and see what values the profile converts 000 to.
-John