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May 4, 1999
Heidelberg Launches New Quickmaster
DI plus At The On Demand Expo in New York
A new enhanced version of the press that initiated the digital printing
epoch is being launched by Heidelberg USA at the On Demand Digital Printing
and Publication Expo which opened May 4th.
Called the Quickmaster DI plus, the new two-up Direct Imaging system
offers the short-run color market a number of major advancements that
further intensify the press' unique strengths. Namely, the speed of the
new QMDI plus's turnaround time is accelerated and the quality of its
waterless offset printing is enhanced.
The new benefit bundle that facilitates those advancements includes:
- Faster imaging times
- Faster and improved plate cleaning
- Faster RIEP times
- More ink zones
- A new ergonomic control panel
Existing Quickmaster DI users will also benefit from the new technology.
Many of the QMDI plus' s innovations are available as retrofitable upgrades
to facilities that run the original "Classic" version of the
digital printing system.
To enhance print quality, Heidelberg has added four extra ink zones to
the new Quickmaster DI plus. That gives the advanced system a total of
12 ink zones, enabling press operators to more closely control ink coverage
and to do it more rapidly.
Another quality enhancement: The Quickmaster DI plus can utilize the
new PEARLdry® plates from Presstek. The plates, which are configured
on a roll to enable the DI to replate itself automatically, produce a
sharper dot structure. Quickmaster DI Classics can also capitalize on
the performance of PEARLdry technology.
Heidelberg went to the heart of the Quickmaster DI system - its ability
to image its own plates from a digital file - to improve makeready. By
revving-up the rotation of the plate cylinders, imaging time for a four-color
job has been reduced from an average of 6 minutes to under 4.5 minutes.
Processing time on the Quickmaster DI plus's Raster Image Processor has
been similarly improved. The new RIP runs on a faster 500 MHz platform,
which is also available as a retrofit for existing QMDI users.
The new DI also has been made more operator-friendly to help quicken
the pace of makereadies. Example: A new ergonomic control panel is equipped
with 12 ink zone keys that make fine tuning ink coverage a simpler and
more precise operation.
Introduction of the enhanced Quickmaster DI plus provides printers and prepress facilities that have yet to capitalize on digital printing with a bonus. The price of the Classic Quickmaster DI has been reduced to make way for the new QMDI plus.
