CANON INTRODUCES NEW BENCHMARK FOR INKJET PHOTO-PRINTING SPEED AND LAUNCHES ChromaLife100 SYSTEM
  • New photo print speed performance
  • ChromaLife100 system delivers new level of colorfastness
LAKE SUCCESS, N.Y., July 11, 2005 - Canon, a leader in photographic and imaging technology, today announced a fundamental shift in focus for communicating printer speed performance to reflect the rapidly growing trend in personal photo printing. Leveraging the advantage of the company's patented FINE (Full-photolithography Inkjet Nozzle Engineering) print technology, Canon will use print times when producing photo lab-quality prints as a new print-speed performance benchmark for all new PIXMA desktop and all-in-one photo printers. As a further indication of Canon's commitment to the photo printer market, the company also introduced the new ChromaLife100 system for photo longevity, making possible a level of fade-resistance rivaling many traditional film-based prints.

Photo Print Speed
Capitalizing on its proprietary cutting-edge FINE technology, which delivers superlative photo-image quality and exceptionally fast print performance, Canon will now convey print speeds for all new PIXMA devices based on the time required to print a photo lab-quality 4 x 6 inch borderless print using default settings for genuine Canon-brand high-quality photo paper (Photo Paper Plus Glossy, PP-101).

"The photo-print speeds we quote for our PIXMA products will provide consumers with a reliable estimation of the time required to produce prints that match the image quality offered by traditional photo labs," said Mr. Katsuichi Shimizu, Chief Executive of Inkjet Products Operations at Canon Inc.

Although inkjet printer print speeds have traditionally been expressed in terms of "pages per minute" (ppm) when producing text-based documents, IDC, a leading IT market research firm, predicts photo printing to continue growing rapidly, reaching up to 69 billion digital photos printed worldwide by 2008 (from 37 billion in 2005), fueled by a 250% increase in the number of digital images taken over the same period Source: Worldwide images 2004 - 2008 forecast: The Image Bible details for IDC prediction. This trend has had a direct impact on the way inkjet printers are used today and the photo-printing capabilities that they now offer. Canon is driving the technological advances that have made this progress possible through such innovations as its patented FINE technology and the integration of PictBridge connectivity.

Achieving photo lab-quality prints requires the use of more ink droplets and smaller droplet sizes than simple text-based documents and requires greater levels of droplet placement accuracy. While print speeds of 20 to 30 ppm are common when printing black and white text documents, print speeds for photo lab-quality prints have only recently surpassed the 1 ppm mark for LTR-size output.

ChromaLife100 System
Canon's newly introduced ChromaLife100 system, comprising genuine Canon dye-based inks and specialized photo paper, delivers an exceptionally broad color gamut while making possible photo prints that resist fading for up to 100 years when stored in an archival quality photo album. Results based on accelerated testing by Canon under controlled temperature, humidity, and gas conditions. For the 100-year figure, Canon simulated storage in an album with plastic sleeves. For the 30-year lightfastness figure, Canon simulated display of a photo in a glass frame in an indoor location without direct sunlight or other high intensity light. The 10-year gastfastness figure is based on a testing ratio of gases typical to indoor air composition (O3: NOx:SOx--3:19:1) with 100 times concentration in order to accelerate color fading. Canon cannot guarantee the longevity of prints; results may vary depending on printed image, drying time, display/storage conditions and environmental factors. See WWW.USA.CANON.COM/CHROMALIFE100 for additional details.

. Designed to complement Canon's FINE print head technology, ChromaLife100 realizes a technology "triangle" combining print head nozzle design, ink and print media, making possible the creation of photo prints that rival the image quality and colorfastness of many conventional film-based prints.

"With the introduction of our PIXMA photo printers, we achieved new levels of print speed and photo-image quality on a par with conventional film prints," said Mr. Shimizu. "And now Chromalife100 gives us the final piece of the photo-print puzzle: fade resistance that also rivals many conventional photo prints."

When displayed under glass in a photo frame, ChromaLife100 prints resist fading for up to 30 years, and up to 10 years when exposed to the effects of the air2.