Even with sophisticated information systems that connect branches and departments within companies today, hardcopy documents are still a critical part of information infrastructure.
Zandre Rudolph, printer division manager at Rectron, looks at the latest trends and developments in the world of printers as he explodes the myth of the paperless office.
The paperless office has been exposed for what it is, a myth. Print demands are greater then ever in spite of electronic alternatives.
The explosive growth in corporate networks and associated network printing has created a need for network printers in almost every company and organisation.
The intense competition between the printer manufacturers has resulted in collapsing hardware prices. The initial hardware investment is in fact only a small fraction of the cost of the printer purchase, when consumables are factored into the equation.
Need for cost containment
The printer is the unsung hero of the office infrastructure. It is an unappreciated, yet essential piece of office equipment, which, when used correctly to meet specific requirements, can make substantial savings in any company.
Modern printers, while significantly cheaper than their ancestors of only a year or so ago, are more cost-effective to run and maintain due to technological advances.
Print auditing is one way of identifying older generation printers and spotlighting ways to reduce print costs within an organisation.
Today, on average around 17% of the stationery and consumables costs can be attributed to printing, yet far too little attention is paid to the technology associated with the printing function.
A number of innovations have taken place with new high-end copier/printer/fax machines reaching the market which combine high performance with attractive low cost of ownership benchmarks.
For potential buyers, a word of warning: don`t assume that the more expensive printers cost too much. They may ultimately be the least expensive in the long-term, with lower consumable costs.
Despite their higher speeds, new generation machines are delivering outstanding quality, and reduced consumption of toner - particularly since the advent of polymerised toner, which is today also available for colour machines.
The polymerised toner has uniformly shaped particles that are half the size of conventional toner particles for improved reduction of thin lines and dots, and impressively sharp text.
Polymerised toner is also friendlier to the environment as it requires less energy in the manufacturing process. The amount of CO2, Sox and Nox emissions, which contribute to global warming, are cut by at least 30%.
Photographic reproduction
Most of the key advances in this market today have been in the field of digital imaging/reproduction, with the desk-top niche expected to the fastest growing.
Canon, in addressing this market, has adopted the cell production concept in the development of ultra-precise processing devices used in polygon mirrors, core components in its laser beam printers and digital copying machines.
Canon has also developed its own 3D image-analysing tools to evaluate colour in 3D presentations. The results were adopted and used to help achieve the Vivid Photo imaging processing technology for its bubble jet printers.
The inkjet printer is continually undergoing development and improvement as they offer excellent value for money, being within the financial means of many households and small businesses. Currently inkjet printers are capable of capabilities of 20 pages per minute, with long lasting ink cartridges as standard.
Before HP merged with Compaq, their research labs were rivals. Now, with the added capabilities of 100 Compaq researchers, HP is putting added muscle behind the future of its printing division. Digital imaging and printing are also focal points for this vendor.
HP evolution
One of the results is the Photo Ret IV technology, as featured in HP`s latest Deskjet printers.
This, the newest evolution in HP`s photo resolution enhancement technology, builds on the foundation of HP`s existing colour-layering process.
HP`s aim has been to deliver more natural-looking photos. To achieve this it developed a solution which relies on two separate ink cartridges.
But unlike the conventional black/colour combination, HP`s first cartridge contains full tricolour inks in cyan, magenta and yellow.
The second contains light dye-load inks of light cyan and light magenta, as well as a specially formulated dye-based black ink. The addition of the lighter inks increases the range of colours available, while the black is richer, deeper and glossier than the usual produced by a composite of coloured inks.
The technology also controls the placement of those six inks more precisely than before. Each dot is capable of receiving up to 32 individual miniscule drops of colour, each precisely positioned to achieve smoother gradations in tone and to virtually eliminate any grain in the printed image.
Using this technology, 289 levels of shade for each colour (compared to 17 levels in the previous generation) are available. This equates to a complete palette in excess of 1.2 million colours.
While conventionally the quality of a printed image is determined by its resolution (measured In dots per inch or dpi), this technology enables users to print images with finer detail at lower resolutions.
HP says that by printing more levels of colour on each dot to create accurate colours with fewer dots per inch, its proprietary approach leads to crisper colours and faster printing times.
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