By now you may have heard
some rumblings about Kodak's new Stream technology from industry analysts or
press releases. You may have heard that it is the only new inkjet technology
that will be demonstrated at drupa. And certainly there have been statements
discussing where Stream fits into the print continuum in relation to offset
printing. All these things are very good, but what do they really mean to you?
Let me start off by saying
that I am relatively new to Kodak and Stream myself, having been with the
company just shy of one year now. While my time with Stream is relatively short
when compared to many fellow Kodakers, I have witnessed many impressive strides
in its development. Image quality is the primary focus area of my work in the
research and development of this technology. These are important footnotes to
put my perspective into context.
Now let's back to the
question of what this all means to you. To be completely honest, I think that
Stream offers many impressive promises that make it possible for the technology
to mean something different to everyone. Yet no matter what benefits you find
the most compelling, there are likely key capabilities offered by Stream that
serve as the foundation for those benefits. Glossy commercial substrates,
striking image quality and detail, unsurpassed productivity. You will be able
to witness these capabilities on the Stream Concept Press at drupa.
So what importance does my
time with Kodak have in this discussion? When it comes to things like glossy
substrates and image quality and productivity, I have seen such strides in just
one year that it is impossible to not be excited by Stream. Images have been
printed on both the Stream Concept Press and offset presses and when you put
them side by side it is clear we have a technology that can compete in
commercial printing. You will be able to view such comparative samples in the
Kodak booth at drupa. Take a moment to envision offset-class image quality off
a digital press that will print completely variable data and it often feels
like the sky is the limit for Stream.
I hope you have the
opportunity to come to drupa and see the Stream Concept Press being
demonstrated by Kodak to the world for the first time. While I cannot put words
in the mouths of others, if I could step out and speak for the hundreds of
people working on Stream I think there would be one common message. And that
message is that we are all proud to be part of this promising new digital printing
technology and excited to have the chance to share Stream with you.
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