Scitex hosted a gathering of international journalists recently at its headquarters in Israel and introduced a range of new technologies.
If the sight of a Scitex Lotem 400V thermal platesetter perched on a dry, lonely bluff near the Dead Sea doesn't stir your interest, then perhaps the image of an Eversmart Jazz scanner tucked inside a dimly lit cave in the side of a mountain may turn your head.
These were just two of the surprises that Scitex unleashed on a crew of international journalists that converged on the company's Herzlia, Israel, headquarters recently. Not only did the company show off its operations—and offer a sneak peak at products slated to debut at DRUPA—but it transported some of its newest devices to some far-out locations to await the arrival of sightseeing journalists.
Though recent Scitex headlines have focused on its agreement to merge prepress businesses with Creo Products, the announcements at this event showed that Scitex is moving right ahead in its development of prepress products.
A Digital Transparency
At the top of the list of new technologies, Scitex revealed its Digital Transparency concept, which it uses in its EverSmart scanners. This technology captures all of the information in the analog transparency (tone, color, shadow detail, sharpness and grain without noise) and transforms it into digital form—a digital transparency. Large data files can be stored, and then the image can be processed for new applications in a pixel depth of 16 bits per color.
This technology is used in Scitex' newest scanners, the EverSmart Jazz and Jazz+ models, designed for in-plants and small commercial shops. They feature Scitex XY Stitch scanning technology, which provides high resolution and sharpness over the entire scanning format, and almost unlimited resolution for enlargements of any original size. Plus, the Scitex SmartSet feature automatically adjusts the scanning parameters of an image according to preset input categories. The scanners also use a new oil mounting station to erase scratches and noise in originals.
Scitex also announced its advanced Turbo Screening solution. Used in all Scitex imaging products, Turbo Screening offers exemplary vignettes (resulting from more gray levels), superb dot structure (low circumference-to-dot-area ratio and lower dot gain) and yellow moire-free screening. It optimizes the performance of the workflow and the imaging device.
The new Scitex Dolev 4dry imagesetter is one device that uses Turbo Screening. It is a medium-format, compact, chemical-free imagesetter that uses dry film. The internal drum imagesetter accepts all four-up press formats up to 29.25x22.83˝. It has a screen ruling of 300 lines per inch and up to 4,064-dpi continuously variable resolution. It features full automation, including roll-fed film loading.
Another new imagesetter, the Dolev 800V, was also introduced. It's an eight-up device that outputs more than 16 full-format flats per hour.
Hot Thermal Platesetter
Perhaps the most picturesque product launch was the Lotem 400V four-up thermal platesetter, which was introduced to journalists in the desert, near the cave where the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered. The 400V images 16 four-up plates an hour at a 2,540-dpi resolution. Separate loading and unloading systems allow one plate to be imaged while a second is positioned in standby. Plates are unloaded automatically. By using thermal plates, the 400V does not require a darkroom, and the use of chemicals is reduced.
Scitex also introduced its Brisque Extreme Digital Front End, which uses Adobe Extreme technology for editable PDF workflows from creation to print. Another new offering, the Scitex shop management solution, will include centralized queue management, process management (to monitor job status and provide operator feedback), file and archive management, and more.
by Bob Neubauer
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