The Canon Colorado 1650 has been cited as “a standout choice for virtually all wide-format printing applications,” by Keypoint Intelligence following field tests.
The 64in roll-to-roll printer was tested on image quality, usability and speed. David Sweetnam, director of EMEA/Asia Research and Lab Services at Keypoint Intelligence, said: “It was immensely satisfying to work with Canon on the first of many new tests as we extend our signage test platform into the roll-to-roll marketplace, testing its highly productive Colorado 1650. From what we saw throughout the evaluation, the Colorado 1650 certainly sets the bar high in this highly competitive and growing market.”
The test report showed the Colorado 1650 to be three times faster than the competitive average across each quality mode tested. In addition to its speed, the printer’s automatic maintenance, user replaceable components and on-the-fly ink replacement features were all recognised as contributing factors for its increased uptime and faster turnarounds.
The technicians highlighted how easy it is, with Canon’s FLXfinish curing technology, to produce both gloss and matte finishes without the need to change inks or media - and that in switching output finish, there was no impact on image quality, even at the most productive speeds.
In the report, colour images were cited as being “routinely vibrant, while delivering exceptional neutrality in black and white half-tones”. In addition, “the Colorado 1650 delivered superb Pantone colour accuracy, generating Delta E00 measurements no greater than 2.32 on average across 15 corporate colours”.
The report also emphasised that, given its accurate dimensional stability, modular design and matte finishing capabilities, the printer is very well positioned for the growing digital wallpaper marketplace.
The printer was found to be easy to configure and its double-sided printing and print-side-in substrate support functionalities enable improved media handling and facilitate longer, unattended print runs. Further recognising its ease-of-use, the report talked of the Colorado 1650’s user-friendly interface and how it enables print service providers to reduce downtime thanks to its transparent ‘at a glance’ status monitoring, a simple to navigate 10.5in smart control panel and a remote control app.
Mathieu Peeters, senior director strategic marketing large format graphics at Canon Production Printing, concluded: “To date, the Colorado series has seen close to 2,000 installations worldwide and feedback from our customers and partners has been very encouraging. This independent Keypoint Intelligence endorsement is a powerful way for us to strengthen the quality and productivity assurance we offer to customers and partners, and it provides proof of the printer’s excellent fit for the fast-growing digital wallpaper marketplace.”