HP unveils B2 Indigo presses in the run-up to Drupa 2012

The new machine is claimed to have a capability of 20 lakh sheets per month, thus widening Indigo’s reach to the publishing segment apart from enhancing the flagship range of commercial printing and photo applications.

“HP Indigo 10000 will take us into the heart of the offset market. It is everything you would expect from Indigo, but in a larger format," said Alon Bar-Shany, vice president and general manager of the HP Indigo digital press division.

The machine has many features which differentiates it from the previous generations of HP Indigo products. The image size is two and a half times larger than any of the existing Indigo sizes. It has a paper-feeding system that has a one metre-high offset-like pallet feeder and two drawer feeders with a capacity to hold 7,500 sheets.

For quality control, the 10000 has an in-line spectrophotometer and registration cameras that depict HP’s vision system technology. It also features an automatic photo imaging and blanket change system which, according to HP will result in saving two-third of type required for replacement.  

The machine was a part of HP’s ten new digital printing systems that were introduced in Israel, all of which will be showcased at the HP’s 4,952 sq/metres stand at Drupa 2012. 

The B2 size offering had two more introductions based on the HP Indigo 10000 platform offering a similar maximum printing width of 750mm. It included HP Indigo 20000 web-fed press for flexible packaging and “capable of gravure-quality printing on films as thin as 10 microns” with a printing frame of 29x43 inches and HP Indigo 30000 sheet-fed press for folding cartons, “supporting substrates up to 600 microns". Both 20000 and 30000 have an in-line priming unit for synthetic materials.

Five HP Indigo 10000 presses will be running a live demonstration at Drupa and will be commercially available from the beginning of 2013.

All the above three presses feature HP’s new Enhanced Productivity Mode (EPM, also introduced at Israel) that uses three colours to simulate black, thus eliminating the use of black ink. It increases the speed of the machine by 33%, giving the Indigo 10000 a maximum speed of 4,600sph.

One would want to think of its reduced click charge being one of the benefits of EPM. But it will still be more than the click charge for the CMY when accounted for all four colours. 

An upgrade to the existing Indigo portfolio
Probably the most relevant for the Indian market were the introductions of 5600, 7600 and W7250, which are an upgrade to the existing Indigo portfolio of 5500, 7500 and W7200.

HP Indigo 5500 has been the best selling press in Indigo’s history with more than 1,500 units produced since the product’s launch in May 2007. The new HP Indigo 5600 has been developed out of the HP Indigo 5500 and runs at 68 A4 page per minute in full colour and 90 pages per minute in EPM.

It offers a white ink option which will enable the production of metallic effects and an optional "one shot" printing mode for applications that can be printed on synthetic substrates like PVC, Teslin, PC and PET. The new avenues that Indigo 5600 opens up includes plastic cards printing and graphic overlays which “up till now was possible only on the HP Indigo S2000 press,” according to Bar Shany. Also, security printing applications like ID cards, tickets and high-value coupons can be printed using a new red-fluorescing invisible ink which reveal the security feature under the UV or infra-red light.

The HP Indigo 7600, which is developed out of 7500, runs at 120 A4 pages per minute in standard production mode with availability of features like creating raised print images up to 50 microns from the sheet and digital watermarking for security applications.

The new features of both the above presses is retrofittable on the existing Indigo 5500 and 7500 presses and will be commercially available as an upgrade post Drupa 2012.

HP has updated its W7200 (one installation in India at Kolor Kode in Bengaluru) to W7250 roll-fed device mainly targeting the short-to medium-run production of high-end colour textbooks, manuals, and trade books. Its monochrome operation has an output of 960 pages per minute.

HP also unveiled its 600dpi, 245 mtrs/min imprinting system, the C800. Up to five of the 108mm-wide heads can be ‘stitched’ together for adding monochrome or colour content to pre-printed offset materials for variable data applications.