Roland DG’s TrueVis VG-640 and VG-540 wide-format printer/cutters have claimed two Buyers Lab awards - ‘Outstanding Enhanced CMYK Eco Solvent/Latex 54/64in Printer (7-Colour)’ and ‘Outstanding High Production CMYK Eco-Solvent/Latex 54/64in Printer (Dual CMYK)’.
Keypoint Intelligence’s Buyers Lab (BLI) is an independent provider of testing and analysis for the document imaging industry. To determine results, BLI analysts evaluated inkjet printers from various companies in a number of performance categories, including image quality, usability and speed.
In earning the ‘Outstanding Enhanced CMYK Eco-Solvent/Latex 54/64in Printer (7-Colour)’ award, Roland’s TrueVis VG series printer/cutters were said to have “demonstrated very high-quality output even when printing at the most productive speed settings.” They were also cited for producing “the widest gamut of bright, saturated colours, as well as smooth skin tones with very good highlight details and contrast.” The tests showed that the machines yielded “extremely accurate dimensional stability and colour consistency.”
On winning the ‘Outstanding High Production CMYK Eco-Solvent/Latex 54/64in Printer (Dual CMYK)’ category, BLI analysts reported: “At the high-speed print quality setting, this 64in unit excelled at producing bright halftone images with very good details and saturation, as well as neutral greys and smooth skin tones while the highest quality print setting was significantly faster than that of the next fastest device. Pair that with the accurate Pantone colour-matching capabilities, as well as above-average print speeds, and this large-format device will undoubtedly satisfy the strictest quality and colour demands of any print shop.”
When evaluating ‘usability’ the BLI noted that the VersaWorks Dual Rip software bundled with both the VG-640 and VG-540 provided intuitive operation for diverse tasks. The BLI also liked features such as the take-up reel for unattended printing, the ink pouch replacement system, and remote printer monitoring.
In a presentation ceremony at SGIA Expo, David Sweetnam, director of research and lab services for Keypoint Intelligence, said of the VG series: “This printer/cutter is all about fast turnaround without sacrificing quality, as many of our test images exhibited neutral greys, fine details, and smooth skin tones even at the high-speed print setting. We were also impressed by the VG with 7-colour plus white ink, which produced the largest colour gamut we have tested to date and delivered excellent colour matching in our tests with an average of only 3.45 Delta E00. Both the VG-640 and VG-540 earned very good marks across the board for image quality, speed, and the functionality and user-friendliness of their included Roland VersaWorks Dual Rip software.
