EFI launches Nozomi C18000 Plus single-pass superfast UV LED inkjet printer

EFI has launched its EFI Nozomi C18000 Plus UV LED inkjet printer. With this new 63-inch wide single-pass solution, users can reach truly breakthrough speeds, running through skids of synthetic media and paper-based materials at speeds up to 1,000 sheets or boards per hour. A future upgrade for the printer will also allow for conversion to roll-to-roll production.

“When EFI announced EFI Nozomi single-pass technology at drupa 2016, the company was surprised at the level of interest expressed in this printer by display graphics customers, and we have been able to respond to demand with the most productive solution dedicated to that market,” said Ken Hanulec, vice president of worldwide corporate marketing, EFI. “Single-pass technology, done right, has the potential to change every print vertical it touches and give our customers unprecedented new opportunities. As the leader in advanced UV LED digital production solutions, we are excited to bring the very important efficiencies and throughput advantages of EFI’s proven single-pass technology to the display graphics market.”

Operating at speeds that are up to three to four times faster than the most productive shuttle-based/multi-pass printers, the EFI single-pass for display graphics printer delivers high-end output on a wide range of media in quantities other digital solutions cannot match, giving customers a lower total cost of ownership, and higher profit potential, for high-volume demand.

The printer can give users the lowest cost per square foot in the market, while also giving them the greatest application range and extreme efficiency. Users can handle even challenging burst capacity demands with the printer’s remarkable throughput. Plus, the 7-colour printer delivers a wide colour gamut with six colours: CMYK with optional orange and violet inks, plus white.

The printer’s on-board quality inspection system checks for colour uniformity, as well as for nozzle out and other defects to further ensure optimum print quality.

All of these factors make EFI’s single-pass for display graphics printer the digital competitor on a cost basis to many analog print applications. Display graphics producers can bring digital print’s versatility advantages, such as seamless versioning and design change capabilities, to long-run work.

As a very high-volume digital printer, this new single-pass solution delivers the benefits of digital to new quantity levels that some print providers traditionally approached with analog methods. Users can eliminate the significant waste associated with analog screens and production make-readies, bringing a significant environmental advantage to digital display graphics printing.

The EFI Fiery digital front end (DFE) used to drive the printer provides outstanding print and colour quality, with a scalable blade-server architecture with HyperRIP performance, Adobe PDF Print Engine, and variable data support. The DFE also features Smart Ink Estimator – an advanced solution that accurately analyses image data for more-precise estimates of ink costs. Fiery Edge, EFI’s next-generation profiling technology, is included as well, delivering even better out-of-the-box colour and quality enhancements.

 Scheduled to be available later this year, the printer is designed for robust productivity and high uptime, thanks to its proven, award-winning single-pass platform and an enhanced program of professional services from EFI. The professional services program also provides extensive remote support to deliver faster, effective service. New remote solutions include innovative data and intelligence offerings centred around EFI IQ cloud platform applications that help users glean greater management insights about their production operations to further improve productivity, efficiency and profitability.

 The new single-pass printer is one of three solutions – including the VUTEk h5 UV LED hybrid flatbed/roll-to-roll printer with three-quarter automation and the new EFI VUTEk XT hybrid – that comprise EFI’s super-high-speed portfolio of advanced, high-volume display graphics products designed to drive the analog-to-digital transformation in printing.