Re: Printing 3-D

[P3D Peter F Davis <pd@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

> 
> > Has anyone seen output from the Alps "micro dry" printer?  I think the mode
l
> > is MD-2010.  It's only about $400, but its color output is supposed to be
> > comparable to dye sub.  It uses a new printing technique that isn't laser o
r
> > ink jet.  It's an array of micro-fine heating elements that fuse the color
> > to the paper (any paper works fine) at, I think, 300 x 600.

> That technology sounds a lot like the one that comes from Toshiba
> (or was it Hitachi? no I think it was Toshiba) that has been
> licensed out to more and more companies.  I know Panasonic has come
> out with some printers.  I've recently done a little research on
> video printers for my wife's office.  Panasonic has a
> computer-connected version of the printer technology.  Each company
> has it's own buzzword-name.  It works with special paper that has
> three layers of dye, and the process (in a one-paragraph web site
> description) soun ds a lot like color film/paper technology except
> that the physical mechanisms ar e completely different in terms of
> how to "expose" each layer, etc.  VERY special paper, obviously --
> but no ribbons, ink, etc to replace!  I can' t be sure about Alps
> "micro dry", but it does sound very similar.  The ones with t his
> process I've seen make only smaller prints though (4x6 or so as I
> recall).

Not the same thing at all.  The Alps uses plain paper, and has 4
replaceable toner ribbons.  The ribbons are available at retail and
mail order places, and prices seem to be between $6 and $8 each.  For
normal color, you would use black, cyan, magenta and yellow, but they
also have metallics, other colors, etc.  I think I saw a review that
claimed between 30 and 40 full color pages per set of ribbons so, at
$6 per ribbon, that's about $.68 per full color (ie, photo) page.  I
don't know what percentage coverage for each color this assumes, or
how many typical 5% black text pages you get from a black cartridge.

-pd

--------
                                Peter Davis
                        http://world.std.com/~pd

            "If you can't behave yourself, who can you behave?"


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