Solid Performance

Printing over the years has evolved from impact to non-impact
and Inkjets to Lasers to MFDs. Mono laser printers have taken the majority of
market share, as it is more affordable. But in the last few years color laser
printers are also gaining in stature, more so due to the new technologies that
are increasing the output as well as affordability. Given that, considerable
interest is being generated on the market evolution of color laser printing.

According to IDC, adoption of color printing in the laser space
has taken off steadily. It is projected that there will be an increased adoption
of color lasers in offices and the installed base will grow further. Today 26%
of medium businesses in India have adopted color laser printers which account
for 12% of their current installed base. An increasing number of organizations
are bringing color printing in-house and can now produce high quality printed
output in a cost effective manner. Over the past two years, there has been a
concerted drive by the industry globally to develop and enhance range of color
laser devices.

Solid Ink Technology

With the burgeoning potential for color laser printing, many companies are
aggressively targeting this. Xerox is one such company that is bullish on the
wider adoption of color laser printing in India. Natesh Mani, executive
director, New Office Group, Xerox India, says, "Color had traditionally
been limited only to inkjet devices. However, that resulted in poor print
quality coupled with high costs of maintenance and consumables. As a result,
organizations looked toward laser technology for meeting their color printing
needs." But companies like Xerox aver that to achieve economies of scale, a
color laser printer has to offer a unique value proposition. In Xerox's case,
it's evangelizing on its color laser technology called Solid Ink. Xerox
believes that it would be a leading edge technology that will hasten migration
from conventional color laser printers to its sold ink based printers.

Reliability Factors

According to Xerox, Solid Ink will be driving this change through its
reliability factor. The simple design of a single-pass Solid Ink product allows
it to have 60% fewer parts than the typical four-pass color laser. The key it
seems is in the print head, which is precisely engineered and calibrated to
deliver full-page full-color prints in one pass through the product. The
simpler, more color-oriented design of Solid Ink products allows a shorter paper
path and avoids all the cartridges, drums, belts, and rollers that make color
lasers so complex.

The company claims that the reliability factor comes in when one
looks at the stated maximum monthly color page volume, is around 85,000 pages
per month, is said to be twice that of typical color lasers, and up to 65 times
that of color inkjets. The fundamental difference between color laser and Solid
Ink is that the latter produces an entire color image in a single pass.

Yet another benefit of Solid Ink is that the ink does not dry
out in the nozzles, and does not wick into the paper as liquid inks do. It
remains bound to the surface of the paper, resulting in more vivid colors and
producing an enhanced color gamut. Says Natesh Mani, "One of the biggest
competitive advantages of Solid Ink technology is the fact that it is
environment friendly technology producing 90% less waste than laser
printing."

Xerox claims that the Solid Ink technology is the next advanced
step in printing technologies. It is being touted as the choice amongst users
for the benefits it brings to the table vis-à-vis other color printing
technologies.

Shrikanth G

shrikanthg@cybermedia.co.in