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MAPS Anti-banding technology - Not just for brand new Mimaki Printers!

APCInk

Merchant Member
Recently I've had good luck resolving banding issue on customer's JV33s and CJV30 printers by updating the FW and applying the MAPS feature. I feel like many users are unaware that this feature is available on older machines (like JV33 and CJV30) so wanted to share some info about it here.

MAPS (Mimaki Advanced Pass System), which is similar to Mutoh's "Intelligent Interweaving" does an excellent job of reducing visible banding in prints and if you've got a JV33 or CJV30 with a few missing nozzles that needs a little help in the banding department, MAPS might be just what you need to regain lost print quality.


Not sure how well the images below will show the defect, but this customer's JV33 was suffering from some media related "soft-banding" (i.e. passes of ink were being laid down faster than the media would accept it and the results were dramatically improved after updating Firmware and applying the MAPS function. Both were printed in 540x1080 6P, Bi, High Speed.


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Usually resolving banding like this would have been accomplished by increasing the pass count. Changing from 6 pass to 12 pass, effectively reduces print speed by 50%, but with the MAPS setting we applied we only lost 15% of print speed.

To get access to MAPS you will need to update to the Firmware to ver. 5.70 on the JV33 (5.60 has it, but is has some bugs) or ver. 3.20 for CJV30. Once you have the required version of Firmware, applying MAPS is as simple as going into the SETUP menu, turning it on and specifying the amount of the MAPS effect that you want.

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The more negative you go with the number, the more banding reduction you will get, but understand that your print speed decreases by the displayed amount. We got great results for this customer with only -15%. Note that if you're running your printer at very low pass counts (i.e. less than 6-pass) the print head may not be overprinting enough times for MAPS to be effective. If you need full details on exactly how to apply the settings and what modes they work with, links to the documents are here:

JV33 Supplement to the Operation Manual - MAPS Function

CJV30 Supplement to the Operation Manual - MAPS Function

Hope some of you find this useful!
 

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odshawaii

New Member
I'm running (2) JV33 printers and both have older versions. Running Windows XP on both stations.

Question, will the newest firmware still be compatible with XP?
 

APCInk

Merchant Member
I'm running (2) JV33 printers and both have older versions. Running Windows XP on both stations.

Question, will the newest firmware still be compatible with XP?

The firmware has nothing to do with the operating system of the computer. The firmware is only on the printers and will be compatible with the XP os.
 

TrustMoore_TN

Sign & Graphics Business Consultant
After doing a little research on S101, I see that "generally" a Mimaki tech has to upgrade the firmware, and there are some circumstances where it cannot be rolled back depending on how old the printer is. I also see that there is a firmware update tool available. Has anyone here performed that upgrade themselves? I grabbed the JV33 Bible files a while back to hang onto but I haven't dug inside there, but I seem to remember something in there as well. I would love to get the updated firmware and enable the MAPS feature, but we're in our busy season now and I can't risk bricking the printer. Thoughts? Suggestions? Thanks in advance.
 

Prism1

New Member
One thing I read in another thread was that with Firmware 3.0 and higher, the Firmware "checks" to make sure you are running a O.E.M. Mimaki print head. If not, it will give you a error code.
 

SightLine

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One thing I read in another thread was that with Firmware 3.0 and higher, the Firmware "checks" to make sure you are running a O.E.M. Mimaki print head. If not, it will give you a error code.
From 3.0 to I think like 4.4 this is correct. Above around 4.6 there is a workaround for this.... ;)

I have cjv30-160 and its firmware is 3.20 and maps option not exist !
how to enable it ?

You cannot enable something that does not exist. The only way to get the MAPS functionality is to upgrade the firmware to a newer version that has the MAPS function implemented. On a JV33 that is technically at version 5.50 but they initially had some bugs with it in both 5.50 and 5.60 and neither of those version are recommended. 5.70 and higher is what you really want. On a CJV machine I'm not sure what version firmware added the MAPS functionality.
 

31legen

New Member
I have cjv30-160 and its firmware is 3.20 and maps option not exist !
how to enable it ?


In your rasterlink menu. Select upgrade firmware. If it wont allow you to do it, you will need to contact your mimaki dealer and they will have to team view into your computer. I upgraded this week and it has really made a difference.
 
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