Used VS-540i vs. TrueVis SG-540

[timkaz227]

Looking to replace my Sp-540v w/ ether a used VS-540i or a new TrueVis SG-540. The VS will come from an authorized Roland dealer 4 yeas old, $10K, 90 day warranty, CMYKcmk ink configuration. SG is $13,995 w/ 3 year warranty.

Any opinions? Also, does CMYKcmk produce better quality than CMYK? I prefer print quality over speed.

 

[rjssigns]

I'd rebuild the SP540V. I'm still running mine. It's slow, but works well. Otherwise the Epson S40600 is $9995 brand new. 64" wide and includes a take-up-reel. You can also reach out to BigFish about the HP latex printers. VanderJ may be able to help too.

 

[ProColorGraphics]

MOD EDIT

 

[timkaz227]

I'd rebuild the SP540V. I'm still running mine. It's slow, but works well. Otherwise the Epson S40600 is $9995 brand new. 64" wide and includes a take-up-reel. You can also reach out to BigFish about the HP latex printers. VanderJ may be able to help too.

Thanks for the input, I have been having some issues w/ my SP that they have not been able to resolve. Also, I rely on the print & cut feature daily.

 

[Solventinkjet]

Any opinions? Also, does CMYKcmk produce better quality than CMYK? I prefer print quality over speed.

With the way this site has been lately I will probably get a lot of dissenters but no, Light Cyan and Light Magenta do not print better quality and just slows the machine down and costs you more money. The idea behind LC and LM is that older print heads didn't print variable dot and the dots they did fire were comparatively large to today's standards. When printing files with a lot of transitions (think gradients) the ones with magenta and cyan tended to look choppy. To give a smoother transition, they added LC and LM to help the print head print a smoother gradient. Modern heads print much smaller dots and print variable sized dots depending on the need. They effectively simulate LC and LM by firing smaller dots. Adding LC and LM on modern heads may be slightly perceivable to a trained expert, with special tools, who knows what to look for but if you printed the same file of a 6 color and 4 color machine and put them side by side, you wouldn't be able to tell the difference. Also, a common myth is that they widen the color gamut of the printer which is simply not true.

 

[rjssigns]

With the way this site has been lately I will probably get a lot of dissenters but no, Light Cyan and Light Magenta do not print better quality and just slows the machine down and costs you more money. The idea behind LC and LM is that older print heads didn't print variable dot and the dots they did fire were comparatively large to today's standards. When printing files with a lot of transitions (think gradients) the ones with magenta and cyan tended to look choppy. To give a smoother transition, they added LC and LM to help the print head print a smoother gradient. Modern heads print much smaller dots and print variable sized dots depending on the need. They effectively simulate LC and LM by firing smaller dots. Adding LC and LM on modern heads may be slightly perceivable to a trained expert, with special tools, who knows what to look for but if you printed the same file of a 6 color and 4 color machine and put them side by side, you wouldn't be able to tell the difference. Also, a common myth is that they widen the color gamut of the printer which is simply not true.

Ding ding ding we have a winner. Lc and Lm do nothing for gamut they are there to make better gradations.

 

[Mainframe]

I have a dual cmyk VG 540, I REALY like this machine, it has a take up and prints super quick, also, the solid colors look just like cut vinyl, I have noticed there are a lot of guys on here have had a lot of complaints about the SG, I also like the print cut, this VG cuts super accurate, like my VP540 x 2 - also, the prints are a lot more scratch resistant, I have done tons of banners, fatheads, clear clings, wall wraps for Colleges, even printed some posters, (said I would never print on paper LOL)
Nice prints and very rich durable prints. I recommend the VG highly I have grown very fond of this machine so far.

 

[ewded]

Buy the Truevis, very good machines.

 

[timkaz227]

...I have noticed there are a lot of guys on here have had a lot of complaints about the SG.

Aren't they they the same machines except w/ 2x the heads? I thought the issues were w/ the ink & heads.

 

[NateF]

I have the VS-540i in the configuration you mentioned. I don't know how it compares to the new TrueVIS model, but I can say I'm very happy with it. Skin tones and gradients come out nice and smooth. It's been nearly completely trouble-free for the 5 years we've owned it.

The only minor issue that occasionally crops up is a minor banding issue. It seems to be related to low humidity and static - if we watch the humidity level it's normally not a problem. But the printer itself is a low-maintenance workhorse!

 

[Solventinkjet]

Aren't they they the same machines except w/ 2x the heads? I thought the issues were w/ the ink & heads.

No they use different heads. The VS series uses a single Epson DX7 print head. The SG series uses 4 Ricoh Gen 5 print heads. It's a really weird move on Rolands part to go backwards in speed and quality like that. The Ricoh heads work great in UV machines and work much better than the Epson heads but when it comes to Solvent printing, the Ricoh head is a step back. Max resolution of the DX7 head is 1440 where the Ricoh is 1200. The Dx7 head can print about 2 times faster than the Ricoh. This may be the reason so many people have had bad experiences with it. They were used to the better machines and thought this was an upgrade when it really is not.

 

[timkaz227]

No they use different heads. The VS series uses a single Epson DX7 print head. The SG series uses 4 Ricoh Gen 5 print heads. It's a really weird move on Rolands part to go backwards in speed and quality like that. The Ricoh heads work great in UV machines and work much better than the Epson heads but when it comes to Solvent printing, the Ricoh head is a step back. Max resolution of the DX7 head is 1440 where the Ricoh is 1200. The Dx7 head can print about 2 times faster than the Ricoh. This may be the reason so many people have had bad experiences with it. They were used to the better machines and thought this was an upgrade when it really is not.

Thanks for all that info, very helpful. But, I was asking about the difference between the heads on the VG & SG models are they not the same heads?

 

[Solventinkjet]

Thanks for all that info, very helpful. But, I was asking about the difference between the heads on the VG & SG models are they not the same heads?

Ha ha. I got carried away on the wrong subject. Yes those two machines use the same heads except the VG series uses 4 and the SG uses 2 so the main difference is speed.

 

[ewded]

No they use different heads. The VS series uses a single Epson DX7 print head. The SG series uses 4 Ricoh Gen 5 print heads. It's a really weird move on Rolands part to go backwards in speed and quality like that. The Ricoh heads work great in UV machines and work much better than the Epson heads but when it comes to Solvent printing, the Ricoh head is a step back. Max resolution of the DX7 head is 1440 where the Ricoh is 1200. The Dx7 head can print about 2 times faster than the Ricoh. This may be the reason so many people have had bad experiences with it. They were used to the better machines and thought this was an upgrade when it really is not.

1200 dpi? - I was able to print 900 dpi max on my SG540. Also 1440 dpi it true as they alignit in the factory on a single head, but 900dpi is only theoretically, just like laser printers where one color is 600dpi and they multiply it by 4 so theoretically it's 2400dpi. But we all know that a black and white laser print is very sharp where CMYK print is always off. So I give Truevis 450 dpi max

 

[Solventinkjet]

1200 dpi? - I was able to print 900 dpi max on my SG540. Also 1440 dpi it true as they alignit in the factory on a single head, but 900dpi is only theoretically, just like laser printers where one color is 600dpi and they multiply it by 4 so theoretically it's 2400dpi. But we all know that a black and white laser print is very sharp where CMYK print is always off. So I give Truevis 450 dpi max

It's weird because Mimaki uses the same heads on their UV machines and they have a max of 1200 x 1200. I am thinking that maybe the head Roland uses is a level down from the one Mimaki uses. They are both Ricoh heads but maybe different versions.

 

[ewded]

It's weird because Mimaki uses the same heads on their UV machines and they have a max of 1200 x 1200. I am thinking that maybe the head Roland uses is a level down from the one Mimaki uses. They are both Ricoh heads but maybe different versions.

Not sure about Mimaki UV but TrueVis

It's weird because Mimaki uses the same heads on their UV machines and they have a max of 1200 x 1200. I am thinking that maybe the head Roland uses is a level down from the one Mimaki uses. They are both Ricoh heads but maybe different versions.

As far as I can remember my tech told me that Truevies uses ricoh gen 4. Mimakis ricoh gen 5 is totally different monoblock printhead very similar to epson's DX series.

 

[Mainframe]

Once again fake news on the TruVis, my VG 540 is rated at 900 dpi but it easily prints 2 to 3 times sharper than my VP540 did and it was rated at 1200 which was kinda laughable compared to how sharp my prints are now.

The solid colors easily rival cut vinyl, the colors are brighter, the prints are super scratch resistant, I can print a banner and throw it on the table, trim and hem it within a half hour of printing, no damage or scratches.

I love the take up on the VG and it handles clear clings, fathead material , paper posters and the usual print cut car graphic jobs, cutting is super acurate, but you have to remove the material in the back and slide the media holders out of the way for cutting lam prints, I had the media holders knock the print off a little a couple times until I figured out how to do it.

 

[ewded]

Once again fake news on the TruVis, my VG 540 is rated at 900 dpi but it easily prints 2 to 3 times sharper than my VP540 did and it was rated at 1200 which was kinda laughable compared to how sharp my prints are now.

The solid colors easily rival cut vinyl, the colors are brighter, the prints are super scratch resistant, I can print a banner and throw it on the table, trim and hem it within a half hour of printing, no damage or scratches.

I love the take up on the VG and it handles clear clings, fathead material , paper posters and the usual print cut car graphic jobs, cutting is super acurate, but you have to remove the material in the back and slide the media holders out of the way for cutting lam prints, I had the media holders knock the print off a little a couple times until I figured out how to do it.

Happy to hear your printer works as it should, that's not very common with TrueVis. What I've told about the printhead is not fake news, I used to have a SG540 - it's not just specs from the net. What about cleaning cycles? Do you find it acceptable?

 

[premiercolour]

No they use different heads. The VS series uses a single Epson DX7 print head. The SG series uses 4 Ricoh Gen 5 print heads. It's a really weird move on Rolands part to go backwards in speed and quality like that. The Ricoh heads work great in UV machines and work much better than the Epson heads but when it comes to Solvent printing, the Ricoh head is a step back. Max resolution of the DX7 head is 1440 where the Ricoh is 1200. The Dx7 head can print about 2 times faster than the Ricoh. This may be the reason so many people have had bad experiences with it. They were used to the better machines and thought this was an upgrade when it really is not.

TrueVIS does not use Ricoh Gen 5 heads. It uses Ricoh FlexFire Printhead. And no, FlexFire is not equivalent to Ricoh Gen4 nor Gen5 heads. Very wrong information. And the DX7 head can print about 2 times faster than Ricoh? lol. You got to be kidding me!

Hands down to TrueVIS.

 

[ewded]

TrueVIS does not use Ricoh Gen 5 heads. It uses Ricoh FlexFire Printhead. And no, FlexFire is not equivalent to Ricoh Gen4 nor Gen5 heads. Very wrong information. And the DX7 head can print about 2 times faster than Ricoh? lol. You got to be kidding me!

FlexFire, yes exactly, I forgot the name - it's been more than a year.