Singapore, 15th September 2005 - Epson, the world leader in digital imaging and printing solutions has announced the launch of the EPSON Stylus Photo R2400. As the first A3+ photo printer utilising Epson's UltraChrome K3 ink technology, the EPSON Stylus Photo R2400 is well suited to meet the needs of advanced amateurs, professional photographers and designers who require breathtakingly beautiful colour and revolutionary black and white prints of consistent quality that last.

 

At the heart of the EPSON Stylus Photo R2400's features is its use of Epson's UltraChrome K3 ink technology. Epson UltraChrome K3 ink features high density resin coated pigments that produce prints with an extremely wide colour gamut allowing the reproduction of colours that were originally envisioned at the point of capture. Its eight-colour ink set incorporates three unique levels of black to achieve smoother tonal gradation and details in highlights, thereby creating professional neutral and toned black and white prints without colour crossover or colour casts. The effects of metamerism and bronzing, often associated with basic pigment chemistry, are also significantly reduced.

 

"The black and white medium, used to capture simple, direct and powerful expressions, is traditionally difficult to print out digitally due to colour twists and short tonal gradation," said Mr Shaun See, Manager, Digital Image, Branded Product Division, Epson Singapore. "With the launch of the EPSON Stylus Photo R2400, users will be able to achieve fine art quality black and white prints using the new Advanced Black and White mode resulting in black and white prints with greater detail, even in shadow areas.  Epson continues to play a leading role in setting new standards, defining breathtaking image quality and permanence with revolutionary technology which allows users to go beyond their expectations and boundaries."

 

Accurate colour control and excellent colour stability
Epson's UltraChrome K3 ink uses a smaller amount of colour ink which results in a more stable and accurate gray balance for accurate colour control. The high density Epson UltraChrome K3 ink pigment produces a wider colour gamut which surpasses that of the Euroscale gamut, providing prints with a brilliance and depth comparable to that of colour offset printing.

 

Epson UltraChrome K3 ink dries quickly, allowing for colours to stabilize within a short time. Colours do not change after drying, thereby creating consistent prints.  Re-prints due to colour changes will be a thing of the past.

 

Quality long-lasting prints with improved lightfastness
Epson's UltraChrome K3 ink utilizes the Micro Encapsulation technology, enclosing each pigment particle in a transparent resin for improved lightfastness. The resin provides scratch and water resistance and protects the pigment particles from print fading and discoloration, surpassing other inks in the market in terms of colour stability and print permanence characteristics to produce fine art quality colour and black and white output.  What's more, expect prints to last over 300 years+.

 

High-speed data throughput and improved print head for increased efficiency
The EPSON Stylus Photo R2400 comes with an improved Micro Piezo print head that is specially designed for Epson UltraChrome K3 inks. The improved print head, with Variable Sized Droplet Technology, precisely controls the different size ink droplets, depending on the type of image and media used, improving not only the evenness of the ink relative to the surface of the print, but also reduces ink consumption.

 

Printing speed has also been greatly improved as the printable area has been increased for each pass of the print head, allowing users to print sharp, high quality photos in a shorter time.

 

Flexible paper handling and new print modes for simplified printing
Black and white photographers who demand the uost in monochrome reproduction can have full control in the Advanced Black and White Photo mode in order to fully utilise the Epson UltraChrome K3 ink to achieve accurate colour toning.

 

The EPSON Stylus Photo R2400 comes with intelligent software solutions in the Epson Creativity Suite, providing photographic enthusiasts with maximum creativity in digital image editing. It also supports a wide variety of media to fit the different needs of photographic professionals, from fine art paper to very thick media of up to 1.3mm in thickness.

 

The EPSON Stylus Photo R2400 is available at all Epson authorised dealers at $1,899.

 

About Epson Singapore
Epson is the world's leader in digital imaging solutions as well as printer manufacturing. The company's Singapore operation is also the Regional Headquarters of Seiko Epson Corporation. The company markets and supports Epson printers, scanners, projectors, electronic devices including liquid crystal displays, semiconductors and system devices in the ASEAN, South Asia and Oceania territories (with exception to support for electronic devices in Oceania). Epson is dedicated to creating products for the home and business markets to meet consumer needs.

 

About the Epson Group
Epson is a global leader in imaging products including printers, projectors and LCDs. With an innovative and creative culture, Epson is dedicated to exceeding the vision and expectations of customers worldwide with products known for their superior quality, functionality, compactness and energy efficiency.

 

Epson is a network of 85,647 employees in 115 companies around the world, and is proud of its ongoing contributions to the global environment and to the communities in which it is located. Led by the Japan-based Seiko Epson Corp., the Group had consolidated sales of 1479.7 billion yen in fiscal 2004.

 

(*) Based on Wilhelm Imaging Research results dated 1 July 2005 on black and white light fastness when printed on EPSON UltraSmooth Fine Art Paper.