Technology Review: The Epson Stylus Pro 9900

Question: If your shop produces large-format, digital images, the prints must be light stable, with an (acceptable) outdoor fade rate, right?
Answer: It depends on your market. Meaning, do you print – or want to print – POP signs for retail stores, tradeshow graphics, wall murals or images for other, indoor events? Do your customers ever want a photo enlarged to a poster size, for a birthday, an anniversary, or an office announcement? What about printing presentation images or architectural (or sign proposal) renderings?
Our point:  A digitally printed image doesn’t always have to be weatherproof.
Weather-resistant images are best made with either a UV-cure or a solvent-ink printer, but, will you and your fussy customer be satisfied with the print quality? Perhaps, yes, but . . . if your printer can’t produce the correct colors, or if banding or dithered artifacts are evident, say goodbye to that market.
Our shop prints many images on paper, and, although it may seem easy, we’ve found it difficult to produce paper-media images with a UV-cure or solvent-ink printer. The best solution has been to use our aqueous-based, inkjet printer.
We’ve reviewed numerous printers over the years, but we haven’t reviewed an Epson, aqueous-ink printer. However, we suspect that many signmakers are using Epson’s other printers for digital photos or presentation drawings. If so, they – you – know Epson printers have a great reputation.
Epson has developed a line of professional, wide-format printers for producing high-quality, indoor signs, photo enlargements and similar graphics. And, when compared to solvent or UV-cure printer prices, these printers are a good, economical choice for high-quality, indoor graphics.
Intrigued? Keep reading, to learn more about the Epson Stylus Pro 9900 printer.

The Epson Stylus Pro 9900
The Epson Stylus Pro 9900 is a beefy machine, built for serious production printing. It will produce prints up to 44 in. wide and can handle both roll and cut-sheet media. (A 24-in.-wide model, the Epson Stylus Pro 7900, is also available.)
The printer measures 48 in. high x 73.4 in. wide x 26.3 in. deep and weighs 256 lbs., including the stand and catch basket. The package includes both a USB 2.0 and 10/100 Ethernet port. If you expect long production runs, choose the optional take-up winder (available on the 44-in. Stylus Pro 9900 only).
A 2.5-in. (diagonal) color, LCD control-panel screen displays job status and provides configuration information and 10 convenient buttons provide additional controls, menu navigation, job deletion, ink cartridge replacement access and more.

Improved printheads
Traditionally, Epson has installed MicroPiezo-based, inkjet heads in its photo printers. However, the 9900 uses Epson’s new, MicroPiezo TFP (thin film piezo) printhead technology. The system comprises a 10-channel, 360-nozzle (per channel) printhead that produces variable-sized droplets down to 3.5 picoliters. The printer can produce output resolutions ranging from a draft mode of 360 x 360 dpi up to 2,880 x 1,440 dpi. Close examination proves the dot placement and shape is accurate and consistent.

Media system
We’re also impressed with Epson’s new, ePlaten™, automatic loading and tracking, media technology. The 9900 can handle media thicknesses up to 1.5 mm, which means you can process 1.5mm sheet poster board and various media – including DisplayTrans Backlight Media, canvas and most artistic papers.
To cut media, including canvas, Epson has engaged a new, rotary blade (it’s like a tiny pizza cutter) cross-cut system which is separate from the printhead system. The blade system travels independent of the printhead, and therefore, its trim residues don’t contaminate the printhead area.
If you’ve worked with a roll-fed printer or vinyl cutter, you know that media loading can become a frustrating time waster. Not so with the 9900, because, apparently, Epson’s engineers actually use its printers and, therefore, have thoughtfully redesigned, and improved the 9900’s media-loading system.
Forget threading a media bar into the media tube shaft, because the 9900 doesn’t use one. Instead, the operator adjusts a handy lever to adjust for a 2- or 3-in.-diameter core, then locks the hubs (roll-media adapters) onto the roll ends. It’s that simple. Next, drop (gently) the media into a topside compartment. Again, it’s that simple — the machine cowling acts as a loading platform, and gravity becomes your friend. You’ll also appreciate the easy accessed control panel.
Epson’s engineers designed a straight paper pathway, one with no unnatural loops. It’s an elegant and almost foolproof solution.
You can also load sheet media from the printer’s top; it uses the same simple paper path.

High dynamic range (HDR) inks
Any inkjet-machine manufacturing company can gain noticeable, but not necessarily awesome, improvements with inkjet-head improvements, but, that adjective – “awesome” – gains value if the company adds a new ink. Epson’s 9900 has it all: precision, variable-sized ink droplets and Epson’s UltraChrome HDR (high dynamic range) inks, which noticeably increase the gamut.
The 9900’s Ultrachrome HDR inkset comprises orange, green, cyan, light cyan, vivid magenta, vivid light magenta, yellow, light black, light light black, and auto-switching photo black or matte black – 11 separate ink cartridges. This system, coupled with the new TFP printhead and an HDR screening algorithm (incorporated into the included print drivers), produces some incredible images.
Why so many different blacks? Epson is renowned for producing museum-quality, black-and-white photo and graphic prints, and, in part, this is accomplished through its three-level, black ink set and broad-ranged color pallete that provides subtle, color-toning controls (cool, warm, sepia and more).
The varying blacks help ensure the gray balance is maintained and that image details don’t become lost in the shadow areas. Further, Epson said you won’t see dots and grain in highlight zones. The matte black is designed for matte paper applications, to produce the darkest possible blacks.
You load the ink cartridges into front-facing, left- and right-side hatches. Epson offers three, different-sized cartridges – 150, 350 and 700ml – which you can mix or match. The color LCD control panel displays the cartridge status.

Performance
Compared to previous Epson printers, the 9900’s design improvements have noticeably increased the company’s print-performance status. For example, a 20 x 30-in. image, printed at 1,440 x 700 dpi on Epson’s Stylus Pro 9880, requires 12 minutes’ print time. On the 9900, the same file requires six minutes and 39 seconds. A same size, 2,880 x 1,440 dpi SuperPhoto-mode print requires slightly less than 13 minutes.

Conclusion
We’re impressed with Epson’s improvements on its fine-art printing solution. We like the ease of use and, in particular, the media-loading system – and that the new printheads, ink set, and drivers produce a wide color gamut and grain-free images.
Choose almost any RIP (almost all support the 9900), or use your existing one (check with the software producer about possible required updates). If your RIP supports the printer and you want to automate color management tasks, opt for the optional, easily attached, X-Rite- powered, SpectroProofer 44, high-performance spectrophotometer.
The Epson Stylus Pro lists at $5,995, and the 24-in. Epson Stylus Pro 7900 lists at $3,995. That’s not a lot for a 24-in. or 44-in. wide printer that will blow the socks off of a gaggle of signmakers, artists and photographers. If you want to make high-quality, indoor prints, check out the Epson Stylus Pro 7900 or 9900. You’ll be impressed.

 

Key Information

Epson America Inc.
3840 Kilroy Airport Way
Long Beach, CA 90806
(562) 981-3840

Contact: Jane Fainer
jfainer@walt.com
(408) 369-7200, ext. 1052

Company Profile: Founded in 1942, Daiwa Kogyo Ltd. evolved into the Seiko Epson Corp. (Suwa, Nagano, Japan) in 1985. Sieko Epson is a global, technology company that specializes in imaging, robotics, precision machinery and electronics. Epson offers an extensive array of image-capture and image-output products for the consumer, photographic, business and graphic-arts markets. The company is also a supplier of point-of-sale printers and transaction terminals for the retail market. Seiko introduced the world’s first analog quartz watch, the Seiko Quartz Astron 355Q, in 1969. The company’s U.S. affiliate, Epson America Inc. (Long Beach, CA), was formed in 1975.

At a Glance: Epson’s Stylus Pro 9900 is a professional, wide-format printer that’s designed to produce high-quality, 44-in. wide, indoor signs, photo enlargements and similar graphics. It uses Epson’s new, MicroPiezo TFP (thin film piezo) 10-channel, 360-nozzles per channel printhead technology that produces variable-sized droplets down to 3.5 picoliters. It also features Epson’s wide-gamut, UltraChrome HDR, 11-color inkset (orange, green, cyan, light cyan, vivid magenta, vivid light magenta, yellow, light black, light light black and photo black or matte black) to produce high-dynamic range images at output resolutions ranging from 360 x 360 dpi to 2,880 x 1,440 dpi, on media thicknesses up to 1.5 mm. The various black, light black and light light black inks gain image details within black or white zones. Epson printers are renowned for producing museum-quality prints, including black-and white-photographs.