Inca’s Onset spawns cut-down version

THE S IN THE ONSET S20 indicates the type of print head Inca’s new large format inkjet press uses, but it might equally well stand for ‘Son’. For the Onset S20 is the smaller, less productive offspring of what is still the world’s most productive inkjet press.

Inca Digital has sold eight of the massive 600 square metres per hour presses, and without the tightening of economic conditions might have sold more. The Onset S20 is intended to meet demands for performance, but at a more affordable price tag – £700,000 instead of £1.5 million. Performance is cut in two as well as the price; so that it will print 250 square metres per hour, or 50 full-bed images in bi-directional mode (32 in the optimum-quality single-direction print mode). It fits neatly in the gap between the 125 beds an hour Onset and the 20 beds an hour Turbo Plus. One Onset S20 will be more productive than two Turbo models.

There is no fall-off in quality between Onset parent and offspring, any difference being indiscernible. Both are aimed at the point of sale market, delivering quality that can be viewed close up.

The new price point is achieved by using much of the architecture of the established Turbo Plus printer, which prints 20 full-bed images an hour, with a print array restricted to 20,000 nozzles in 156 print heads. These are easier to replace than in the first-generation Onset and come with self-aligning systems to keep the press in production longer. With training this can become a task within the compass of a user. Internal systems identify any blocked nozzles, and if it cannot be cleared by a cleaning routine, will assign a neighbouring nozzle to cover any line of missed pixels. In operation several nozzles would need to be blocked before any intervention to replace heads is necessary. This, though, has to be tested in practice; something that will happen during the five-month beta programme before the commercial launch in April next year.

Uv curing is managed to provide different gloss levels to the finished prints, from a matt finish to satin and gloss. The effect of printing with higher levels of gloss is to extend the gamut possible with four ink colours.

The Onset S20 will be available as a four-colour machine; as four colours plus white; or as a six-colour press with either four colours plus orange and violet to extend the colour gamut, or with one extra colour and a white. It will also be offered with levels of automated handling to load or unload sheets, which will be useful mostly for longer run jobs.

Automatic handling systems will be offered to help load the bed, as well as to remove printed sheets from the bed and load a stacker. This feature will be more popular with those printing longer print runs rather than ultra-short batches.

However, according to Inca managing director Bill Baxter, the main drive has been affordability: “We wanted operating costs to be very small,” he says, “but it is offering the same quality as the original Onset. This level of quality will encourage some printers to upgrade because their customers will be looking for Onset quality.”