New Improved Photo Printers from Epson

New Improved Photo Printers from Epson

Epson’s SureColor P600 and P800 printers have gone, but it claims its new photo printers are better, more compact and easier to use.

According to Digital Photography Review, Epson’s new SureColor P700 and the SureColor P900 print up to 13″ and 17″ wide respectively and have a variety of new features, some of which were introduced in the large format SureColor P7570 and P9570 printers Epson announced last October. Like these larger printers, the P700 and P900 include a new internal light for checking on your prints as they’re being made and a 4.3″ touch screen control panel. While the P700 and P900 do not have the 12 channel print head of their larger siblings, they do include a new 10 channel MicroPiezo AMC Print Head which features dedicated channels for Matte Black and Photo Black ink.

The SureColor P700 and P900 printers include a new set of Epson UltraChrome PRO10 inks. Epson states that the new inks deliver up to a 6 percent wider color gamut than the P600 and P800 printers. Further, they include a new violet ink channel, which will improve the appearance of blues, violets and purples in your prints.

Speaking of black and white prints, the Epson P700 and P900 include a new Carbon Black printing mode, which increases the DMAX by up to 11 percent versus the SureColor P800. The special driver mode is optimized for glossy and metallic glossy media and produces what Epson calls a “rich, ‘wet’ looking black.” This mode uses the existing Light Gray ink channel and does not require a dedicated ink channel, such as Canon’s Chroma Optimizer.

Considering the printers themselves, let’s look at the new 4.3″ touchscreen user interface. This new control panel is user customizable, including in terms of color and the information displayed. The panel can also show a live preview of the image you are printing. Settings shown on the touchscreen panel include the internal light option, network settings, errors and warnings, print job status and remaining time, media type and loading options, ink levels and more. Regarding network settings, the SureColor P700 and P900 printers include new 2.4 and 5 GHz wireless functionality.

The SureColor P700 and P900 printers are also much more compact than their predecessors. They are up to 30 percent smaller than the printers they are replacing. In fact, the new SureColor P900, despite printing up to 17″ wide rather than 13″ wide, is the same size as the outgoing SureColor P600. Specifically, the P700 is 20″ wide and the P900 is 24″ wide. They have respective minimum depths of 20.8″ and 23.1″.

As mentioned, the SureColor P700 supports 13″ wide media. Core media up to 2″ is supported. The P700 includes an include rear roll media feed, allowing for roll printing up to 10 ft. long. When loading sheet media from the top, the P700 can hold between 10 and 30 sheets at a time. There is also no need for a second Fine Art tray anymore; you can load all accepted paper via the single top load tray. The printer can accept media up to 1.5mm thick.

The SureColor P900 accepts 17″ wide media and supports both 2″ and 3″ cored roll media via an optional enclosed roll media adapter. Like the P700, there is a single top lead sheet tray now, which can accept between 10 and 30 sheets of paper and papers up to 1.5mm thick. In the case of both the P700 and P900, there is no built-in cutter.

To summarize, the key features of the new Epson SureColor P700 and P900 printers are as follows:

UltraChrome PRO10 10-color ink technology with up to a 6 percent wider color gamut than the SureColor P600 and P800 printers;
New MicroPiezo AMC print head with dedicated channels for photo black and matte black. This means no more black ink switching when changing paper types;
Carbon Black Overcoat technology results in improved black density on glossy media;
Dramatically smaller physical size compared to the P600 and P800 printers;
New 4.3″ touchscreen control panel; and
Improved media feeding options.

The Epson SureColor P700 and P900 printers are now available to order with shipment expected to begin in early May. The estimated MSRP for the new P700 and P900 printers are US$799 and US$1,195 respectively.