Calibration prints

The printer produced five prints, the first one was just a text document in 13 languages telling you that the optimization may take between 30 and 60 minutes. The English paragraph says that some imperfections may occur on the diagnostic pages, this is normal. Hmmmm... I am sure that anyone who has just spent £500 will not want to see imperfections. Having said that, I can't see any faults on the prints that have just been produced. The printer reads the charts and makes the necessary adjustments to ensure the colours remain accurate for future printing jobs.

The last two samples are details from the prints above.

Before moving on to the next section I should explain to you what is going on inside the printer during the setup.

The HP Photosmart Pro B9180 features a densitometric closed loop colour calibration system, this is a very advanced feature for a printer in this price bracket. The printer prints a target page containing individual colour blocks (notice eight colour swatches on each page). The page is drawn back into the printer and then the densitometric sensor reads the printed targets.

The densitometric sensor moves with the printer carriage, it works in a similar fashion to a scanner, by shining light onto the page from four colour LEDs. The sensor measures the colour density on the test print by measuring each colour and then comparing the values to the target colour density. Closed loop colour calibration compensates for too much or too little ink by making adjustments as necessary to ensure a consistent output. This is not to be confused with colour profiles, that is a different story. You will have to wait for my Z series printer review for that

The densitometric sensor

Sensors also detect the presence of media in the paper tray(s), the width of the media, and automatically adjust for skew if media is not properly loaded in the tray. The sensor is pre calibrated and remains operational throughout the life of the printer. The printer performs colour calibration during printer setup, and when new ink cartridges are installed or replaced to prevent colour shifts this ensure accurate colours. The printer can be calibrated at any time from the front panel or the printer toolbox.