HP Reports to Have Unveiled Fastest Large-format Printers

HP introduced a new portfolio of HP PageWide XL printers yesterday, reportedly offering the fastest large-format production printing available in color and black-and-white.

HP PageWide XL Printers do the job of two printers in a single device, providing monochrome and color prints at speeds up to 60 percent faster than the fastest monochrome light-emitting diode (LED) printer.

The new printers will enable reprographic houses, print service providers (PSPs), enterprise central reprographic departments (CRDs) and print corners to produce computer-aided design (CAD) drawings and will open new business opportunities with geographic information system (GIS) maps, point-of-sale applications and posters.

“Our large-format printing customers are continually exploring ways to improve productivity, streamline workflow and reduce costs,” said Stephen Nigro, senior vice president, Imaging and Printing, HP. “The HP PageWide XL Printers announced today deliver what our customers have been seeking for years and will revolutionize the production printing market, offering affordable, high-quality black-and-white and color output in a single device at the fastest speeds available.”

HP PageWide XL Printers are the first products introduced under the new HP PageWide sub-brand. Based on proven HP PageWide Technology, which currently powers HP inkjet web presses, HP business printers and will be scaled for upcoming HP 3D Multi Jet Fusion printers, the new portfolio delivers on the announcement made last year, providing low operation costs driven by life-long printheads, high ink efficiency and cloud-based support. The HP PageWide XL Printer portfolio includes:

• The HP PageWide XL 8000 printer offering high-end production printing at revolutionary speeds up to 30 D/A1-size prints per minute as well as two 775 milliliter ink cartridges per color with automatic switching and up to six rolls – more than 3,900 feet (1,200 meters) – of media for sustained productivity.
• The HP PageWide XL 5000 printer and multi-function printer (MFP) providing small- to medium-sized reprographic houses and enterprise CRDs mid-volume technical document production at up to 14 D/A1-size prints per minute as well as two 400 milliliter ink cartridges per color with automatic switching and up to four rolls of media to streamline work.
• The HP PageWide XL 4500 printer and MFP enabling cost- and security-conscious technical work teams, including architects and engineers, to securely print up to 12 D/A1-size prints per minute in in-house print corners.
• The HP PageWide XL 4000 printer and MFP allowing technical work teams and copy shops to produce 8 D/A1-size prints per minute, helping teams increase on-the-job productivity.

“Changing customer demands have caused us to look for opportunities to address the print needs of new markets, including advertising and communication, in addition to servicing our core customer base of architecture, engineering and construction firms,” said Chuck Wingard, president and owner, Tree Towns Imaging & Color Graphics. “The HP PageWide XL 8000 printer will enable us to streamline our workflow with one printer for a variety of high-quality black-and-white and color jobs at high speeds and will fill the gap between our existing technology to better service our diverse customer base.”

The production printing market has traditionally been led by monochrome-only LED printers, requiring customers to also operate large-format inkjet color printers to address color jobs. The new printers consolidate workflow to deliver mixed black-and-white and color prints in half the time it would take to manually collate documents produced on multiple printers. In addition, a full portfolio of scanning and finishing solutions, including the HP Designjet HD and SD Pro Scanners and new HP PageWide XL printer accessories, such as the HP PageWide XL online folder, top stacker and high-capacity stacker, enable customers to build efficient end-to end workflows around HP PageWide XL printers and free up the operator.

HP SmartStream software for HP PageWide XL Printers reduces time spent preparing and processing jobs by 50 percent. It also reduces reprints with native PDF management powered by Adobe PDF Print Engine 3 and offers a true color print preview with interactive HP Crystal Preview technology to turn operator efficiency into operating profit.

HP PageWide XL pigment inks increase print quality with crisp lines, fine detail and smooth grayscales that are superior to LED prints. HP PageWide XL Pigment Inks also provide dark blacks, vivid colors, and moisture and fade resistance even on uncoated bond paper at high speeds.

New HP large-format printing materials up to 40˝ (1 meter) meet ISO/U.S. technical and offset standard page sizes and provide quick-dry, smear resistant prints. New media to accompany the HP PageWide XL Printer portfolio includes HP Universal Bond Paper for technical applications, HP production matte polypropylene to produce roll-up banners, and HP production matte, gloss, and satin poster papers for point-of-sale applications and poster production.

The HP PageWide XL 8000 series printers will be available beginning in September 2015. Other devices in the HP PageWide XL portfolio will be made incrementally available between November 2015 and January 2016 in select countries worldwide. Specific country releases will follow.