Help me understand 4bit vs 8bit Grayscale - EFI 16H Vs 1625

[funkytone]

We're looking for hybrid UV printer and based on my research and budget, I've narrowed it down to EFI for the most part. Two companies rep EFI in my area and I've got conflicting info from them. One guy says that the new 16H is faster but that's because it has 4 levels of grayscale not 8 so he recommends the 1625 which is a bit older (still current tech) but has 8 levels of grayscale. The other rep says that both levels of grayscale are completely suitable for today's print standards.

Is this grayscale thing a non issue nowadays or has EFI gone with a lower grayscale level on the 16H to achieve better speed ratings and could it bite me in the butt?

I now the obvious answer is to print my own samples, which I intend to do soon but there is no 16H in my area so we might travel to ISA at the end of next week and print our samples there. I was hoping to get some of your opinions before that.

Cheers!

 

[Joe House]

I'm a little confused - you say 4 bit vs 8 bit grayscale in the subject and 4 levels vs 8 levels in the body of the post. 4 bit would have 8 levels and 8 bit would a have 128 levels. A big difference.
In the end, I would agree with you - see prints off of both machines. If you're concerned about gray balance, get a good black and white photo with different light values through the picture and a good, balanced color image with light shades, mid tones and darker colors. All will show up color casts differently - potentially. And finally get a file that shows extreme color ranges to evaluate the gamut of the printers.
In the end, it's how the output looks to you (or your customers really). A lot of specs get thrown out by vendors that may or may not impact the output as much as they would like.

BTW, some vendors may not print these for you at the show and I would respect that. Watch their printers print and get a feel for the throughput while you're there and ask them to send you prints of your files along with the settings, time to print and ink consumption for each of your prints. You could probably get them to print these in a couple of different print modes if they realize that you're serious about a purchase. This way you can compare the outputs and associated costs across the 2 printers that you're looking at.

Good luck and let us know how you end up.

 

[funkytone]

I'm a little confused - you say 4 bit vs 8 bit grayscale in the subject and 4 levels vs 8 levels in the body of the post. 4 bit would have 8 levels and 8 bit would a have 128 levels. A big difference.

Sorry, that's my lack of terminology. Here's the what both machines state:

EFI Pro 16H "Up to four levels of variable-drop grayscale"
EFI Pro 16h Wide Format Printer

EFI H1625-LED "Up to eight levels of variable drop grayscale"
EFI H1625 LED Wide Format Printer

So I guess we're talking levels not bits.

 

[Joe House]

Sorry, that's my lack of terminology. Here's the what both machines state:

EFI Pro 16H "Up to four levels of variable-drop grayscale"
EFI Pro 16h Wide Format Printer

EFI H1625-LED "Up to eight levels of variable drop grayscale"
EFI H1625 LED Wide Format Printer

So I guess we're talking levels not bits.

Then I think they're talking about drop sizes which is a good thing. More is generally better, but like I said, get some prints and watch the printers work. Stats really mean nothing compared to the output.


Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

 

[tbaker]

The 16h and 1625 are very similar. The 16h is faster, it uses the Ricoh gen 5 head, the 1625 uses the toshiba tec head. The 16h has a number of improvements in it, built on a proven platform. I’d recommend getting your sample files printed and comparing.