Just a few more comments on this topic ...

Our initial response to the ESKO press release prompted a few questions. We wanted to be able to answer these clearly and at the same time comment on an article published on the same topic in the Flexo Magazine for April 2009.

Before we go any further we feel that it is important to stress that there are many points in the article that we agree with. We totally support all efforts to enhance and move the Flexo industry forward, through such evolutionary steps, with higher print capabilities, better on press performance, longer plate life, and greater sustainability for the process as a whole. These are all things that will assist the Flexo industry as a whole to perform better and grow. However, where we disagree is in the use of marketing buzz words like "Revolutionary" and "Novel" for things that are neither. We run the risk that when things that are truly exciting and new really do need such titles they will be worn out and without impact.

The message remains the same, combining existing technologies together is evolutionary, and LAMS Plates Are Not New - Nor Is Hybrid Screening. ESKO themselves state that "digital imaging was introduced with laser ablative masks system (LAMS) CTP plates in 1995", and "About 10 years ago, a hybrid screening technology was created". The FLEXO article states that "recently, technology was developed that allows digital LAMS plates to image at 4000 dpi", yet it is a standard upgrade on most of the CDI line of products and has been for some significant time, if not since their introduction. A simple search of the internet with "4000 dpi CDI" will produce results from at least 2005, so recently is relative to what?

A Matter of Speed with A Pixel At A Time!
Let's try and clear up the imaging speed question. In the FLEXO magazine article the comments "while a 4,000 dpi pixel is not going to be noticed by an increase in imaging time", and "because the dots consist of more pixels", can be tied together to confirm that the time to image each pixel is similar, but there is an increase in imaging time due to more pixels to image with the same optics. In long standing calculations by Kodak engineers, changing from 2540 dpi to 4000 dpi will be an increase of approximately 2.7 times in 1). Pixels to RIP, and 2). Pixels to image. This is potentially a very significant slowing of the imaging process for LAMS plates. It's just an important question that should be asked. It is also understood that trade shops in Europe who have had the 4,000 dpi option available on the CDI for some time tend to charge more for LAMS plates imaged at this resolution due to the most expensive hardware component in the process, the plate imager, being tied up for much longer for each plate.

Dot Holding Enhancement
A technique to use some form of light values to improve the dot holding capabilities is also nothing new. Based on research and development from several years ago, Kodak possesses proprietary plate resolution enhancement technology that includes several granted patents. Upon Kodak's introduction of this proprietary technology, referred to as "HyperFlex" that enables holding of smaller dots and graphic elements on flexo plates, it won the 2003 GATF InterTech Technology Award, 2004 FTA Technical Innovation award, and 2005 FPPA Technology Innovator of the Year award. The HyperFlex technology involves the imaging of light valves (equivalent to small dots or holes) in the LAMS layer around the required dots to increase the UV energy, assisting the required dots to build stronger structure, with more robust format and better performance on press, but the light values do not form any structure that prints. This proprietary technology is in daily use today in many plate makers. Kodak HyperFlex technology can be applied to Maxtone (Kodak's hybrid screening) and AM screening.

The following examples illustrates the process: HyperFlex Technology extends the minimum reproducible dot size for Maxtone Screening, e.g. 35 micron Maxtone Screening - 0.5% tint



Without HyperFlex Technology: Dots have not formed at all, or have fallen over - even though they are imaged at normal min dot size (Note that the only dots forming on plate are adjacent to the line element)



With HyperFlex Technology resolution enhancement: All dots develop. File integrity is maintained: if there is a dot in the data, there is a dot on the plate

When we read the explanation of the revolutionary screening, "a novel solution was developed: a new "differentially modulated" screening technology. Dots remain on a regular grid as standard halftones, but in the highlight they change size at different rates. There is a mixture of mostly smaller dots with a few larger dots.

In extreme highlights, the very small dots do not actually print. They build up the plate around the remaining larger dots, so that these print in a stable way." Based on prior technology, it does not seem to be so new or novel. Come on guys! Let's save the "novel" and "revolutionary" adjectives where they truly appropriate.

Quick Comment On Gray Levels You May Have Missed From Part I
Anonymous Comment:
"300 lpi for Flexo doesn't seem very realistic to me, have you calculated the number of gray levels you can reproduce with 300 lpi at 2400 dpi? 65!"

"This comment would have been true for early RIPs (circa 20 years ago), which did not use supercell technology. Kodak has been using supercell screening in all its workflows for a very long time (and I would be very surprised if there are any workflow vendors left that do not). Rather than calculating grey levels at the individual halftone cell level, supercell screening calculates grey levels over an area consisting of many halftone cells and uses pixel dithering to render very accurate tones within the supercell area, no matter how high the frequency. The only limitation to imaging grey levels on a Kodak system is the underlying data in the input file. 8-bit contone and 8-bit vector objects can only be rendered at 256 grey levels, but objects created with smooth shade operators can be rendered with 16-bits, which produces 65,536 grey levels. Of course, in real life, TIFF measuring tools can only distinguish tones to about 0.1% accuracy. But even with this limitation, I can demonstrate 1000 grey levels in a device-ready TIFF rendered at 300 lines at 2400 dpi, from any of our workflow systems" answer provided by Stephen Zmetana Technical Specialist, Packaging Workflows, Kodak Product Development. Thanks Stephen!

The More We See:
As the weeks go by and more and more is revealed about this competitive "revolutionary" and "novel" technology, it looks more and more like an attempt to match the 300 lpi capabilities with full tonal range of Flexcel NX - and that's great. As suppliers we have a responsibility to continually move the industry forward.

We embrace truly novel advancements that will allow us all to do so. It is clear to us though that using a round laser to image square pixels will NEVER match the 1:1 imaging capabilities of the SQUAREspot Technology used in the Flexcel NX system. That Oxygen Inhibition in plate making means that the dots are still rounded and bullet like, even if they are a little smoother, and will still suffer point loading and narrower impression latitude and shorter life than a flat top dot structure. Then there is the imaging time, significantly more data to RIP and image will slow the process, all driven by the need to increase resolution just to match a technology running at 2400 dpi, just like its offset counterparts, that today images the Thermal Imaging Layer for a 31.5" x 42" plate in 6 minutes.

At the end of the last blog we said it was evolutionary for ESKO instead of revolutionary for the Flexo industry, and the more that comes out the smaller an evolutionary step it seems.

OK. Let's stop. Enough said on the topic. We'll draw a line there and move on. Let's all get back to developing and promoting solutions truly deserving of the superlatives.

This post was co-written by Dr John Anderson, Global Future Marketing for Flexo at Eastman Kodak.

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