Thomson Press installs ThermoStar T9 HS thermal CTP powered by Amsky

The ThermoStar T9 HS uses a single laser beam source which split into 256 channels through a special optical device. The initial offering of T9 HS is a 40PPH (8up size) machine. The working life of the laser head is 10000+ hours. Since laser beam is on only when it exposes the plate, the life of laser box is long.

The CTP system has been supplied and installed by TechNova Imaging Systems.

Ajay Kumar Chawla, manager, pre-press and CTP, Thomson Press, said, “What attracted us to ThermoStar T9 HS was its exposing quality at 2400dpi and its speed of 43 plates an hour.”

After-sale service and technical support from TechNova was another reason, Chawla said, adding, “The machine consumes around 4.5kw electricity, which is around half compared to other available products in the market. We tried other available thermal CTPs in the market, but Aurora has the maximum speed. We need speed to facilitate our huge production.”

Chawla, who has 32 years of experience in pre-press, said previously Thomson was using three thermal CTPs from Screen. “Now, we have replaced one with ThermoStar T9 HS and the existing two will be replaced after installing the next kit. Thus, we will have two ThermoStar T9 HS thermal CTPs with a capacity of 86 plates per hour,” he said.

The company consumes around 25,000 thermal CTP plates of nine different sizes per month. All printing plates, whether colour or mono, are exposed at 2400dpi.

Chawla added that the company has been associated with TechNova for a decade now. “We can proudly say that TechNova is a reliable partner,” he added.

The Amsky 256 channel optical platform technology uses a single emitting laser source and through an optical lens system, it forms a linear laser beam. The linear laser beam passes through a 256-channel spatial light modulator and is divided into 256 small laser light channel. These laser light channels are independently controlled by the software programme. Each light channel pass through an imaging optical lens and converts into a laser spot size of 10.6x2.5um rectangle beam. Through rectangle laser spot scanning, it forms a 10.6x10.6um square dot which can accurately produce screen dots needed for high quality printing.

RB Kashyap, plant head, Thomson Press, said, “The ThermoStar T9 HS produces an excellent dot quality result for FM screen. It can support up to a dot size of 20 micron FM screening. For a high scale print production company like us speed is the key. Now our plate-making will never go on hold. We will be able to make our production smoother.”