PUBLICATION CENTER

At the Imaging USA Show, held earlier this week in Tampa, Epson unveiled its new 13-in. Stylus Photo R1900 printer ($549) with new 8-color UltraChrome Hi-Gloss 2 inkset. Developed for enhanced color printing on gloss photo papers, the pigmented inkset features a more transparent gloss optimizer that improves the look and feel of photo prints. The blue ink used in the R1800 has been replaced with an orange ink for improved vibrancy and warmer skin tones.

Epson’s new Radiance technology built into the printer’s software optimizes how the individual UltraChrome Hi-Gloss 2 inks are mixed and provides smoother color transitions and reduced graininess.

It also improves color constancy under different lighting conditions. The Radiance technology was co-developed by Epson and the Munsell Color Science Laboratory of the Rochester Institute of Technology.

Although the Stylus Photo R1900 was specifically designed to excel on glossy and luster photo papers, it isn’t limited to those types of media.

It can automatically switch from Photo to Matte Black inks and output on matte and fine-art papers, canvas, greeting cards, labels, and plain papers. It is also built to print on rolls, sheets, or inkjet-printable CDs.

The Stylus Photo R1900 is about 35 percent faster than the R1800 it replaces. A 5x7 print that took 91 seconds to print in the Best Photo mode on the R1800 takes just 59 seconds on the R1900. An 11x14 print on the R1900 can be output in about 1 minute and 46 seconds.