ESECO Digimatic® Universal Imaging System

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Press Release

NEW!!! FREE Digimatic® print sample: Receive either this beautiful NASA X-33 image or send us your digital file for printing.

Digital image quality is simply the collective quality of all its pixels. Therefore, pixels with photo-quality and continuous tone geometry are essential to construct images that reflect the same attributes. A key development of the Digimatic® LCLM (Liquid Crystal Light Modulator) is the photographically compatible "square pixel". Digimatic® square pixels have photomasked edges that maintain maximum image sharpness at any print size. Unlike round monochromatic-laser, CRT, and ink-jet pixels, the LCLM square pixels are filled corner to corner with even photographic illumination. Add to that ESECO's patented methods of seamlessly knitting a billion RGB pixels together, and the results are continuous tone "film quality" prints. Picture NASA trying to seamlessly construct the critical heat-shield on the X-33 by cementing "round tiles" together, and the geometric qualities of LCLM square pixels become apparent. For a given image size, the Digimatic® square pixel printing enhances "apparent DPI" quality of the image resolution four times over round pixel printing and ten times over half-tone dot printing.

Transforming digital files into "lifelike images" having continuous tone and razor sharpness, the Digimatic® rivals any printing technology - including high definition color film! "True photographic quality" is the Digimatic® mark of excellence made possible by the ESECO Micro-Motion LCLM--Liquid Crystal Light Modulator, U.S. Patent 5,844,663 and other patents pending. This exclusive technology creates a computerized set of "virtual film-overlays" from a digital file and then optically recombines them on standard low cost photographic media. Through precise micro-motion mapping of the LCLM and modulation of the Compucolor® photographic light source, the Digimatic® printing engine perfectly merges up to 128 unique sub-images into one beautiful picture.

The striking image quality from Digimatic® printing is complemented with speed, flexibility, and intuitive operation. Configured with a powerful Windows NT computer and custom imaging software, the Digimatic® can be used as a comprehensive workstation for pre-printing functions such as image repair/manipulation, package print formatting, and RIP. A typical digital file can be loaded from CD, LUT calibrated, RIPed, and then exposed into a high quality 20"×30" latent print in approximately 2½ minutes total time. Alternately, pre-printing functions can be offloaded to satellite workstations, and then Digimatic® can network them in a "print-on-demand" environment for maximum throughput. The Digimatic® can print more than 200 different 8"×10" images per hour in Quick Print mode by inputting pre-RIP images from the network and outputting to the optional Speedmatic® Roll Transport System.

Included with the Digimatic® is the exclusive ESECO LCLM RIP software. This is the fastest and most efficient engine available for high resolution RIP - typically processing a 36MB raster image in 20 seconds and a 144MB raster image in 100 seconds. Resizing of an image is instantaneous because one RIP is used for all print sizes and media formats. Digimatic® is the only digital printer and RIP that do not require movement of the photosensitive media for the image writing. Therefore, there is great freedom to utilize all possibilities of color papers, films, reversal materials, and B&W materials and in cut sheets or long rolls. Digimatic® is also the only digital printer that is capable of accumulating up to 50 image layers onto one print for applications such as aerial map making and three dimensional displays.

Digimatic® Universal Imaging System is truly the Best of Both Worlds - film and digital. The optional film drawer easily swaps with the digital drawer and extends the printer's versatility. Since exposure times can be ten times faster in film mode, extremely high production rates can be achieved. This versatility is realized by producing a film negative with the digital drawer and then swapping to the film drawer for production. The film negative can then produce several thousand 8"×10" prints that same day using the Speedmatic® Roll Transport System for your application and maximum productivity.

Digimatic^® Universal -- Technical Specifications

Printing Engine
Technology: Micro-Motion LCLM - Liquid Crystal Light Modulator.
Patent: U.S. Patent 5,844,663 and other patents pending.

Light Source
2000 watt Halogen (low cost ELC lamps), programmable CMY dichroic filters, and shutter.

Color Pallet
16.7 million colors via LCLM for image rastering + 5 million colors via programmable CMY Light Source for print balance, corrections and media compensation.

Calibrations
LCLM Image Quality, Color Management, Gray Scale Balance, LUTs, Processor Tracking.

LCLM Capacity
Optical: Renders images as "virtual film-overlays" up to 150mm×200mm in any aspect ratio.
Digital: Rasters images in Standard-Res (36MB max.) up to 3000×4000 pixels.
Rasters images in Ultra-Res (144MB max.) up to 6000×8000 pixels.

Pixel Properties
Square: Full corner-to-corner coverage creates 4× apparent DPI compared to round pixels.
Seamless: Continuous tone pixel-to-pixel integrity produces "film quality" photo prints.
Sharp: Photomasked pixel edges maintain high image acuity at any projected print size.

Print Resolution
Variable: PPI = number of LCLM pixels / number of inches printed.
Examples: Standard-Res 6"×8" (15cm×20cm) print has 500 square PPI (2000 apparent DPI).
Ultra-Res 30"×40" (75cm×100cm) print has 200 square PPI (800 apparent DPI).

Printing Times
RIP: 20 sec. Standard-Res OR 100 seconds Ultra-Res.
Exposure Examples: 8 sec. for Standard-Res 8"×10" (20cm×25cm) in Quick Print mode.
20 sec. for Standard-Res 8"×10" (20cm×25cm) in Quality Print mode
65 sec. for Standard-Res /Ultra-Res 20"×30" (50cm×75cm) in Quality Print mode.
Overhead: 0.3 sec. per sub-image printed.
Other Factors: Media change/advance time, file complexity/load time, network speed.

Printing Modes (Modes can combine)
Print-From-Menu: Operator selects files, manipulations, crop, sizing, RIP, printing, etc.
Print-On-Demand: Attended/unattended automatic printing of preRIP files from network.
Package Printing: Combinations of multiple image sizes in one print.
Layered Printing: Single print accumulation of up to 50 independent images.
Numbered Printing: Sequence number superimposed in the printed image.
Quantity Printing: Printing repeats for quantities entered by operator or from network.
Quick Printing: Rapid sub-image sequencing for print sizes 14" (36cm) and smaller.
Quality Printing: Choice of 16 to 128 sub-images optimizes image quality with print size.

Print Sizes
10' (3.1m) Column: Any size print from miniature to 40"×60" (100cm×150cm) full bleed.
8' (2.4m) Column: Any size print from miniature to 30"×40" (75cm×100cm) full bleed.
Resizing: Any size print of same image instantly autosized without new RIP.

Print Media
Processes: Any low cost photosensitive materials such as color papers and films, display & reversal materials, B&W materials (expensive special digital media not required).
Formats: Cut Sheet with optional vacuum hold (media stability essential).
Long Rolls with optional Speedmatic^® roll paper transport.

Job Storage
Operator can store all profile-data from printing session for future recall & use.
Automatic event log stores every significant Digimatic^® operation with date & time.

Computers
Primary Computer: Pentium II 400 MHz with 512MB RAM (Optional 1GB RAM), 17" (43cm) Color Monitor, & Uninterruptable Power Supply.
Available Drives: 3.5" Floppy Disk, Zip, CD, & 9 GB HD.
Available Interfaces: Serial, Parallel, SCSI, & Ethernet.
Peripheral Computer: ESECO-Compumaster^® with Smart I/O, Operator Display, & Data Printer.

Software Included
Operating System: MICROSOFT Windows NT.
Digimatic Programs: ESECO WorkStation, ImageManager, RIP, & Compumaster^®.
Support Programs: ACCUSOFT Image Format Library, HSI Image Alchemy, ADOBE Photoshop, & DATAVIZ Mac Opener.

File Formats
MS-DOS or MAC: Over 90 formats compressed and uncompressed such as .BMP .CT .EPS .GIF .JPEG .PCD .PCX .PDF .PS .PSD .RG .SGI .TGA .TIF & .RIP (.RIP is Digimatic^® preRIP format).
Color Modes: B&W 1 bit, GrayScale 8 bit, RGB up to 24 bit, CMYK up to 32 bit.
Conversions: Vector files converted to raster via HSI Image Alchemy.
CMYK files converted to RGB via ACCUSOFT, HSI Image Alchemy, or ADOBE Photoshop.

Film Sizes
35mm to 8"×10" (20cm×25cm) or 10"×8" (25cm×20cm).

Film Programs
48 with 9 Color Balance Selections per Program.

Film Analysis
Translator or Fiber Optic Integration/Spot Analyzer.

Film Slope Control
Under 2 - Under 1 - Over 1 - Over 2.

Automatic Features
Focus, Sizing, Lens ID, Negative Carrier, Paper Position, Analyzing.

Power Required
200-240 VAC, 25 Amp, 1 Phase, 50-60Hz, & 115 VAC 5 Amp, 50-60Hz.

Stepdown Transformer (optional)
200-240 VAC to 115 VAC, 5 Amp, 50-60Hz.

Power Consumption
Approx. 1000 Watts standby, 3500 Watts printing.

Shipping Weight
10' (3.1m) Column: 2,300 lbs (1,043kg).
8' (2.4m) Column: 2,100 lbs (953kg).

Space Required
10' (3.1m) Column: 8' 9" (2.67m) Wide × 5' 5" (1.65m) Deep & 10' 10" (3.3m) Ceiling.*
8' (2.4m) Column: 7' (2.13m) Wide × 4' 5" (1.35m) Deep & 8' 10" (2.7m) Ceiling.*
Additional Space: Operator area, Service access, Accessories, Media storage, etc.
*NOTE: Ceiling can be 10" (25cm) lower with some reduction in maximum print size.

Room Temperature
Typical Office Heating/AC: 70°F to 78°F (21°C to 26°C).

April 20, 1999

ESECO’s new imaging systems, Digimatic^® XL-30 (any size prints up to 30"×40") and Digimatic^® XL-40 ( up to 40"×60"), meet the changing demands of digital technology. These systems operate solely from digital files, creating the images in a high quality LCD panel for projection printing on RA-4 and other photo materials.

These systems are very versatile: three modes of user-selected resolution, quick change from sheet to roll material and vice versa, file input from wide variety of sources (network, CD, ZIP, etc.). It has three new features added: multi-image packages, B&W printing, and job queuing.

The print quality is superb, mainly because of square pixel technology and our patented halogen light valve: visual continuous tone, color saturation, contrast and sharpness are at the optimum (even small files produce great results!).

This excellent quality comes with two main productivity enhancements: speed and simplicity. Print size and overall color changes are instantaneous, 200 8"×10" prints per hour, incorporated Digimatic^® RIP and Color Management (Photoshop^® is also included), all functions and calibration are very operator-oriented, even largest files are easy to handle.

To lower the maintenance costs, Digimatic^® XL-30 and XL-40 also include one-year "No Hassle" warranty, three-year on-site computer maintenance program, complete installation, on-site training, and continuous technical telephone support.

April 13, 1999

Two New Features Added to Digimatic^®: B&W and Multiple Image Prints

Digimatic^® is the most cost effective and versatile system for producing high resolution continuous tone color or B&W prints, display transparencies, and negatives directly from digital files. The system permits fast production for the widest variety of jobs on sheet or roll material. Size changes do not require any computer time. Prepared small files can produce excellent results with the exclusive Digimatic^® RIP.

Production rates are 200 8"×10" prints per hour and infinitely variable sizes up to 40"×60".
Specialized package programs produce multiple images in one single exposure.