🚀 go-pugleaf

Well, after printing a sample image (generated on a SPARCstation using
PV-Wave) on both the NeXT color printer and a QMS thermal wax printer
I thought it would be useful to relate our impression of the two
outputs.

First, both were printed on special coated paper (this is required
for wax printers, optional for the Canon engine). Second, we are
still waiting to compare both trasparency output and xerox-ability
(i.e. how well the outputs can be color copied).     

Thermal Wax:
300 dpi, very glossy.
Pros: Very black blacks - very nice. Good dynamic range.
Cons: wax wrinkles easily, gloss makes it hard to view under
      some lighting, easily damaged, expensive (~$6k for a decent
      one).

NeXT Color Printer (Canon bubble jet w/ PS level II)
360 dpi, flat
Pros: WOW. Colors are much more vibrant than I expected. Flat colors
      make viewing under any lighting easy. Prints up to 11"x17".
      Cheap! Don't have to buy memory for the printer. FAST.
Cons: Black not as black as wax. Dynamic range just shy of wax. May
      slow host cpu considerably (even with 48megs?). Some people
      like glossy output.

In short, I was really impressed with NeXT's color printer. It is VERY
important to note that we use color output for representing data -
this is not DTP or photo stuff, so PANTONE matching etc. makes no
difference to us and I cannot comment on how well either printer 
fairs in this regard.

Soon I will color-xerox them and get transparency output from both.
Next week Tek will be in town to demo their dye sublimation and 
phase change printers. I'll check these out too.

Eric S. Boltz
NIST

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