Big Picture - May 2016 - (Page 26)
Beyond
WATER
Alternative ink technologies lead to new applications and bigger business.
BY TIM GREENE
W
hile numerous ink technologies are
employed within the large-format
printing business, historically, aqueous
(water)-based wide-format printers have
represented the largest number of
printers installed. Even today, few would argue that largeformat aqueous inkjet printers are the most affordable and
application-flexible printers on the market. However, we're
starting to see the impact of single-pass wide-format aqueous
inkjet printers as they have dramatically improved speed and
lowered running costs, two of the biggest challenges to
conventional aqueous inkjet use in the graphics market.
Most of these single-pass wide-format aqueous inkjet
printers are used in the technical or CAD market, but based
on the speed the models are capable of, the potential exists for
shops and end users to buy them to produce high volumes of
maps and short-term posters. For the North American
graphics market, the trend is moving away from conventional
aqueous inkjet due to high running cost as well as limited
outdoor durability. Certainly, pigmented water-based inks are
resistant to UV light, but for true outdoor durability, aqueous
inkjet prints must be laminated.
Here at International Data Corporation (IDC), we have
seen the shipments of conventional aqueous inkjet printers
designed for the graphics market fall by about 3500 units from
2013 to 2015, and we expect those declines to continue.
Alternative ink technologies such as eco-solvent, latex, UV
curable, and dye sublimation offer improved outdoor durability, lower running costs, and the ability to print onto uncoated
media. These add up to a different set of capabilities, which
enable a variety of new applications and require different
operational cost models and production speeds.
NORTH AMERICAN LARGE-FORMAT PRINTER SHIPMENTS 2013-2015-2017 (PROJECTED)
20,000
2013
18,000
2015
2017
16,000
14,000
May 2016
12,000
10,000
8,000
BIG PICTURE
6,000
26
4,000
2,000
0
Aqueous
Source: International Data Corporation
Eco-solvent
Latex
UV
Dye-sub
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Big Picture - May 2016
Big Picture - May 2016
Contents
Insight
Wide Angle
Upfront
Business + Management
Outside the Gamut
Can Print Shops Benefit from 3D Printing?
Beyond Water
R+D
Explorer
Big Picture - May 2016
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