Epson UltraChrome™ ink

This article was previously published by photo-i and is included here to give you an overview of UltraChrome inks.

With Epson's launch of its 2002 spring collection of printers, Epson Stylus Photo 2100 and Epson Stylus Pro 7600/9600, comes the announcement of a new pigment based 7 ink system called UltraChrome. The inks are Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Light Cyan, Light Magenta, Black and Light Black, and just for good measure there are two types of Black: Photo and Matte. The two blacks are used for different media types i.e. Glossy or Matte surfaces. The Epson UltaChrome ink, together with a new software application called Grey Balancer, guarantees that even the most cynical die-hard photographer will take a second look.

The test

So how does this new ink compare with conventional dye based inks? photo-i compares 5 printers using the same file on each. The test file was compiled for PC-PRO magazine (Dennis publications, UK), for their printer tests/reviews. The elements used in the picture are as follows:

The original file	Epson 875DC	Epson SP2100
Epson 950	Canon S900/9000	Kodak LED

• The RGB patches are 100% of each colour (colour space sRGB)
• Red = 255,0,0
• Green = 1,255,1
• Blue = 0,0,255
• Cyan = 1,255,255
• Magenta = 255,0,255
• Yellow = 255,255,1
• Black = 0,0,0
• Grey = 128,128,128
• White = 255,255,255

The graduate on each of the RGB starts with White and finishes with the colour, this will show up any banding or unwanted dithering.

The baby picture (my daughter Sophie), is for accuracy of reproducing skin tones. The other pictures are representative of subject matter that most people photograph. The cotton reels at the base are as near to the Kodak colour control patches as I could get (they also look more interesting).

The original file	Epson 875DC Premium Glossy Photo Paper	Epson SP2100 Glossy Paper Photo Weight
Epson 950 Premium Glossy Photo Paper	Canon S900/9000 Photo Paper Pro	Kodak LED Photo Paper Pro

The files are both original digital camera files and scanned film. The 5 printers used for this test are: Epson 2100, 950, 875DC, Canon S900/9000, and a Kodak LED printer. The Kodak printer is a high end machine that prints on photographic paper.

The quick answer

Laying the 5 prints side by side gives the viewer a quick answer as to which print looks the best - looking at the prints individually you can see the subtleties in each printer. So for a quick answer as to which is best, the Epson 950 followed very closely by the Canon S900/9000 - they are both very good, I am viewing the original prints under diffused daylight. Interestingly, under artificial lighting the Epson 2100 stands out as the best. The worst of the batch is the Kodak LED - a machine that costs in excess of £80,000, the print cost £8.00 and I had no control on the final print quality. Another lab may produce a much better print.

The details

The Epson 875DC, a 1440 x 720 dpi  six colour dye based printer, may be yesterday's model but I have included it as many people with similar aged printers are now looking to upgrade? The key question is "Are today's printers that much better?" The 875DC produced a print with over saturated colour that tended to over-emphasise the reds - this printer is rather generous with its ink outlay. The baby's skin tone lacks subtlety and looks heavy, this could be improved, but I stuck with the manufacturer's paper and recommended settings. The printer produced good detail throughout the picture, especially in the eyes, but there is a small amount of noise in her mouth (no pun intended). Despite this being the lowest resolution printer in our test, there is no banding on the graduation strips and even under high magnification the print dot is barely visible. Detail is lost in the black cotton reel and in the arch behind the Life Guard, probably due to the quantity of ink used. The monochrome picture of Venice, although being neutral with no visible colour cast, has some very strange colour artifacts.

The SP2100 delivers a well balanced, but slightly under-saturated colour, giving a flat appearance. Detail is maintained in both highlights and shadow areas. The Reds are exceptionally good, as are the Yellow and Blue, but Greens lack punch. The cotton reels show the printer's full capabilities by keeping the detail in both the White and Black reels with all the strands clearly visible. It also kept the detail in the strands on the red cotton (none of the other printers managed this). The baby picture is probably the most accurate for skin tones and shows excellent detail in the dark areas of her mouth. Graduations are superb, certainly the smoothest I have seen from any printer. The monochrome picture has a slight bias towards green which can be corrected. It should be noted that this print is a colour image so the monochrome image will have been printed using all the colours. For BW pictures the user would use the Grey Balancer software and set up a tone for monochrome output. I will post a full test on this printer and its monochrome capabilities when a review model arrives.

When UltraChrome Ink hits the paper, the solvent and colouring agent quickly penetrate the printing media. The resin coatings are repelled from the interior and forms a film that covers the colouring particles. This technology uses a surface coating to fix the output to the medium. Holding the print at an angle to the light source shows the image laying on the surface like a spot varnish. The resin coating helps protect the image from being scratched.

Another new model from Epson in their spring collection is the Epson SP950. The 950 uses dye based inks and although it uses seven inks it is a six colour printer (the 2 Blacks are for keen letter writers). Colours are very good across the entire range with excellent detail being kept in the shadow areas. Under high magnification you can see faint white lines in the baby's mouth (it should be stressed that this is not visible to the naked eye). All the other printers suffered with the same problem (with the exception of the Epson 2100).

The Canon S900/9000 produced very lively but not garish colours. However, there is a small tendency to a slight blue tint noticeable in the baby's skin colour. The Blacks were particularly strong, despite in my own review of the S900 where I said the blacks were weak. This caused the detail in shadow areas to block up - this is the only print where you can't see the arch behind the Life Guard. A high degree of image detail is maintained throughout the entire picture. The prints have a biting sharpness and together with the excellent Pro heavyweight Glossy paper, make the prints look more like conventional photographs. The monochrome picture is cool in appearance, very similar in tonal appearance to Ilford multigrade papers.

The Kodak LED print, in a nutshell, is awful. The baby looks like she has jaundice and the rest of the colours are all over the place. The print is larger than the file I sent, so there has been a degree of re-sampling, which has resulted in a softening effect to the overall image. I have included this picture to re-assure some of you that even if you send your pictures to professional labs you are not necessarily going to get better results. Most labs will just print straight from the file you send and any problems thereafter are just blamed on you, the customer. If you do use a lab for your output then don't let the tail wag the dog, always insist on the best.

The original file	Epson 875DC Premium Glossy Photo Paper	Epson SP2100 Glossy Paper Photo Weight
Epson 950 Premium Glossy Photo Paper	Canon S900/9000 Photo Paper Pro	Kodak LED Kodak C41

Conclusion

The purpose of this test is to see how well the new UltraChrome inks stand up to dye based inks. I have based this mini-test on a few sample prints sent by Epson and a known test file printed by Epson. Although I would have preferred to have full control on the test, I accept that if anyone is capable of producing a quality print it must surely be the manufacturer. I am therefore happy to draw my first conclusions based on the prints I have in hand.

The 2100 UltraChrome print is probably the print with the least contrast, the colours are pleasing to the eye, with a flattering warmth to the skin tone. The new ink shows the advatages of a wider colour gamut, I hope it won't be too long before Epson launches an A4 printer with UltraChrome. Both the Epson 950 and Canon S900 are quality printers that surpass previous models, prints have good contrast, good detail and excellent colour. This next generation of dye based printers produce remarkable quality, but neither stood head and shoulders above the other. For longer lasting prints then the choice is simple, UltraChrome inks win the day