BN20 - not impressed with colour depth

[moto1]

Im trying to find a small scale roll feed printer that can deliver high resolution rich colours for outdoor use on Go Carts and quad bikes.

I visited my local Roland supplier and they ran off a few test prints and even though the tones and overall quality is great for a small outdoor printer I wasnt impressed with the richness of the colours. All of the
colours especially black just seemed a bit washed out compared to the colour im getting from a HP L25500. I realise they are both completly different machines but if Im going to pay $9000 for my first small machine i need the colours to jump out at me. The metallic option is good, more like an alloy effect than a high sparkle look but still good for what it is trying to achieve.

Two questions,

Is there any other outdoor UV resistant ink machine on the market
capable of delivering rich colours with the option of metallic?

Are there any settings on the BN20 that could increase the ink output
to richen up the colours? Currently on the HP we run it at 10pass but such options are not available to my knowledge on the BN20.


Currently the only machine other than the BN 20 that I can see producing rich colours is the Gerber Edge FX but im a little concerned about its narrow
media width and its ability to print gradients. Though I havent seen any gradient test prints from one as yet.


Cheers
Mike

 

[jasonx]

Not sure about the BN20 but it uses ecosol max inks and we get more glossier colours on the Roland unlaminated. The prints off the L25500 are better though.

 

[moto1]

Not sure about the BN20 but it uses ecosol max inks and we get more glossier colours on the Roland unlaminated. The prints off the L25500 are better though.

I like the solids on the HP but the gradients are no comparison to the BN20 which I guess is expected as they are two completely different machines when it comes to volume output.

 

[Dave Rowland]

some of is down to the style of dot patterns for solids on L25500... not forgetting the latex has many many small nozzles which are aligned. The machine is simply amazing.

Even our very good AGFA M2050 is struggling to keep up

 

[Robert M]

Mimaki

Mimaki makes a 24" printer cutter, can be run cmyklclm or cmyk or add white to the mix

 

[moto1]

Mimaki makes a 24" printer cutter, can be run cmyklclm or cmyk or add white to the mix

A 24" outdoor printer with White? Will do some homework on it as I havent seen or heard anything of this machine.

 

[Jack Knight1979]

I would say the Roland vendor probably didn't know how to run the RIP.

VersaWorks is a mere setting selection from muted colors to rich vibrant knock you off your feet color.

 

[Welder.man]

I have both a Gerber edge fx and a Roland bn-20 and they give different results, you are correct with the gradients from the Gerber edge not being as smooth as from the bn-20 with the Gerber I was told you look at the print from 6 feet not 6 inches.

I am still getting my head around the bn-20 and versaworks but I have had some pretty good results so far, I was told in versaworks I can go to the colour management and select max impact and it is supposed to make the prints more vibrant, I have not tried it yet,

When designing the artwork I use corel x4 and I use Roland spot colours in the design, once again in versaworks under file format put a tick in the convert to spot colours box.

This may help, if anyone more experienced can comment on my post I would like to know your thoughts.

 

[Jack Knight1979]

There's max impact which really boost saturatuion.

Then Quality>Color Management>PreSet>Properties.

Rester or Vector depending on if your file type.

Colormetic or Perpetual.

these settings are key to adjust per image you print to get the most out of the color gamut. On some images depending on hues won't do much. On other images the boost in color is incredible.

 

[splizaat]

I wouldn't base the print quality of that machine from whatever the roland dealer did...they may just not have a file setup right.

 

[Blue27]

I have a BN20 and yes you need to set color management in Versworks to Sign&Display or Max Impact to get the color you want.

 

[moto1]

Great news, . I had a feeling he wasnt confident with the machine yet but I will suggest what you have mentioned and see what happens.

Im visting the dealer on Monday again and will keep you posted

 

[Suz]

I have a BN20 and yes you need to set color management in Versworks to Sign&Display or Max Impact to get the color you want.

Blue,
Is the BN20 a good machine for using up scraps?? If so, what is the smallest piece you can run through that machine?

Thanks!