LightJet

Last updated

LightJet is a brand of hardware used for photographic printing of digital images to photographic paper and film. LightJet printers are no longer manufactured but are however remanufactured and resold; and their lasers are still manufactured.

Contents

LightJet is a trademark of Océ Display Graphics Systems, a division of Océ N.V. (the company that acquired Cymbolic Sciences, Inc.) In 2010 Océ was acquired by Canon of Japan. The term "LightJet" is often used to generically describe a digitally made chromogenic print. Competing manufactures of equipment include ZBE Chromira and Durst Lambda. [1] They may be used in Minilabs.

Details

Unexposed silver-halide (AgX) photographic paper is temporarily fixed on a stationary internal drum, where three digitally controlled lasers simultaneously expose the photo-sensitive emulsion on the paper medium (or back-lit transparency medium) with red, green and blue laser light. The amount of light from each laser varies to provide specific color and density values for each pixel imaged to the print. The light-path includes a spinning surface coated mirror mounted on an air-bearing that travels along the axis of the internal drum, thus reflecting the laser light at 90 degrees allowing for a dimensionally consistent round imaging dot across the entire area of the photographic paper. The purpose of this round imaging dot is to maintain edge to edge sharpness on the final print. The print is then processed using traditional photochemical means (usually RA4). After which the photographic print is handled just as any other photo-print.

Whereas xerography and inkjet printing employ a halftone process and ink to reproduce digital images on paper, digital-C is a photographic continuous tone process rather than halftone or error diffusion which are common on offset press or ink-jet. The device natively supports 24-bit RGB raster files, and is capable printing vector based files when fronted by a photographic Raster Image Processor (RIP). 24 bit color continuous-tone devices use large multitudes of colors, up to 16,777,216, rather than the small number of colors available to 4-color press and 8-color ink-jet type devices. Therefore, posterization and banding are unlikely from these types of prints when provided with a file of good integrity. Due to slight halation of the light source, digital C-prints produced on high end equipment have true continuous tones not possible with images created with ink or pigments (due to CMYK halftone limitations).

LightJet printers and film recorders are used by a number of professional-level photographic printing firms. Most deliver a final product printed on Fujifilm Crystal Archive or Kodak Endura paper in sizes up to at least 4×10 feet. Other silver-halide based materials can also be printed on laser driven devices such as the LightJet. The LightJet printers were manufactured in Vancouver, BC, Canada; the core internal drum technology was developed by Dan Gelbart at MacDonald Dettwiler & Associates (MDA) in the 1980s, and later refined by Cymbolic Sciences.[ citation needed ] Key individuals responsible for the success of LightJet series include Dale Benjamin, Tim Crandall, Rolf Dekleer, Dave Fraser, Robert Heath, Alex Holowko, Larry Kiser, Miranda Clegg, Chris Lynn, Wenny Macura, Derek Montgomery, Dan Murray, Karen Neufeld, Didier Primat, Alastair Reed, Jeff Rittichier, Horst Schaaf, Ken Smith, and Dan Whittle.

The original LightJet image recorder was introduced at PMA in 1995. The first version of the product was the LightJet2000, a three-laser continuous-tone film recorder (the selling price was US$195,000). Its maximum image size was 11×14 inches. The LightJet2000 largely replaced the Fire1000 film recorder.

The LightJet5000 large-format printer was introduced at PMA in 1996. The product produced continuous-tone photographic prints and Duratrans up to 50×50 inches. In 1997 a version capable of printing to a dimensional size limit of 50×100 inches was introduced.

The Océ LightJet430 50" x 120" (image size) photo laser printer was introduced in 2000. The 76" x 120" (image size) Océ LightJet500XL printer was introduced in 2002.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Printer (computing)</span> Computer peripheral that prints text or graphics

In computing, a printer is a peripheral machine which makes a durable representation of graphics or text, usually on paper. While most output is human-readable, bar code printers are an example of an expanded use for printers. Different types of printers include 3D printers, inkjet printers, laser printers, and thermal printers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Raster image processor</span>

A raster image processor (RIP) is a component used in a printing system which produces a raster image also known as a bitmap. Such a bitmap is used by a later stage of the printing system to produce the printed output. The input may be a page description in a high-level page description language such as PostScript, PDF, or XPS. The input can also be or include bitmaps of higher or lower resolution than the output device, which the RIP resizes using an image scaling algorithm.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Laser printing</span> Electrostatic digital printing process

Laser printing is an electrostatic digital printing process. It produces high-quality text and graphics by repeatedly passing a laser beam back and forth over a negatively charged cylinder called a "drum" to define a differentially charged image. The drum then selectively collects electrically charged powdered ink (toner), and transfers the image to paper, which is then heated to permanently fuse the text, imagery, or both to the paper. As with digital photocopiers, laser printers employ a xerographic printing process. Laser printing differs from traditional xerography as implemented in analog photocopiers in that in the latter, the image is formed by reflecting light off an existing document onto the exposed drum.

A page printer is a computer printer which processes and prints a whole page at a time, as opposed to printers which print one line or character at a time such as line printers and dot-matrix printers. Page printers are often all incorrectly termed “laser printers”—although virtually all laser printers are page printers, other page printing technologies also exist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Inkjet printing</span> Type of computer printing

Inkjet printing is a type of computer printing that recreates a digital image by propelling droplets of ink onto paper and plastic substrates. Inkjet printers were the most commonly used type of printer in 2008, and range from small inexpensive consumer models to expensive professional machines. By 2019, laser printers outsold inkjet printers by nearly a 2:1 ratio, 9.6% vs 5.1% of all computer peripherals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Halftone</span> Printing process

Halftone is the reprographic technique that simulates continuous-tone imagery through the use of dots, varying either in size or in spacing, thus generating a gradient-like effect. "Halftone" can also be used to refer specifically to the image that is produced by this process.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Photographic paper</span> Light-sensitive paper used to make photographic prints

Photographic paper is a paper coated with a light-sensitive chemical, used for making photographic prints. When photographic paper is exposed to light, it captures a latent image that is then developed to form a visible image; with most papers the image density from exposure can be sufficient to not require further development, aside from fixing and clearing, though latent exposure is also usually present. The light-sensitive layer of the paper is called the emulsion, and functions similarly to photographic film. The most common chemistry used is gelatin silver, but other alternatives have also been used.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Digital printing</span> Method of printing

Digital printing is a method of printing from a digital-based image directly to a variety of media. It usually refers to professional printing where small-run jobs from desktop publishing and other digital sources are printed using large-format and/or high-volume laser or inkjet printers.

Photographic printing is the process of producing a final image on paper for viewing, using chemically sensitized paper. The paper is exposed to a photographic negative, a positive transparency , or a digital image file projected using an enlarger or digital exposure unit such as a LightJet or Minilab printer. Alternatively, the negative or transparency may be placed atop the paper and directly exposed, creating a contact print. Digital photographs are commonly printed on plain paper, for example by a color printer, but this is not considered "photographic printing".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Minilab</span> Photographic film developing and printing system

A minilab is a small photographic developing and printing system or machine, as opposed to large centralized photo developing labs. Many retail stores use film or digital minilabs to provide on-site photo finishing services.

Print permanence refers to the longevity of printed material, especially photographs, and preservation issues. Over time, the optical density, color balance, lustre, and other qualities of a print will degrade. The rate at which deterioration occurs depends primarily on two main factors: the print itself, that is, the colorants used to form the image and the medium on which image resides, and the type of environment the print is exposed to.

An Iris printer is a large-format color inkjet printer designed for prepress proofing. It was introduced in 1985 by Iris Graphics, originally of Stoneham, Massachusetts, and is currently manufactured by the Graphic Communications Group of Eastman Kodak. It is also used in the fine art reproduction market as a final output digital printing press, as in Giclée.

Printer Command Language, more commonly referred to as PCL, is a page description language (PDL) developed by Hewlett-Packard as a printer protocol and has become a de facto industry standard. Originally developed for early inkjet printers in 1984, PCL has been released in varying levels for thermal, matrix, and page printers. HP-GL/2 and PJL are supported by later versions of PCL.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Continuous tone image</span> Image in which each point can transition smoothly between shades

A continuous-toneimage is one in which each color at any point in the image can transition smoothly between shades, rather than being represented by discrete elements such as halftones or pixels.

A chromogenic print, also known as a C-print or C-type print, a silver halide print, or a dye coupler print, is a photographic print made from a color negative, transparency or digital image, and developed using a chromogenic process. They are composed of three layers of gelatin, each containing an emulsion of silver halide, which is used as a light-sensitive material, and a different dye coupler of subtractive color which together, when developed, form a full-color image.

In the theory of photography, tone reproduction is the mapping of scene luminance and color to print reflectance or display luminance, with the aim of subjectively "properly" reproducing brightness and "brightness differences".

Canon Production Printing, known as Océ until the end of 2019, is a Netherlands-based subset of Canon that develops, manufactures and sells printing and copying hardware and related software. The product line includes office printing and copying machinery, production printers, and wide-format printers for both technical documentation and color display graphics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Inkjet paper</span> Paper designed for use with inkjet printers

Inkjet paper is a special fine paper designed for inkjet printers, typically classified by its weight, brightness and smoothness, and sometimes by its opacity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Solid ink</span> Type of ink used in printing

Solid ink is a type of ink used in printing. Solid ink is a waxy, resin-based polymer that must be melted prior to usage, unlike conventional liquid inks. The technology is used most often in graphics and large-format printing environments where color vividness and cost efficiency are important.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Durst</span> Equipment manufacturer

Durst is an Italian manufacturer of photographic printing equipment.

References