Visitors to drupa will witness the official world-wide release of Polytype's ground-breaking new wide-format digital ink-jet printing platform, the Virtu Quantum, which promises a blend of quality and speed hitherto unavailable in the marketplace. Now available in widths of 2.5m and 3.5m, the UV-curable machine incorporates high-definition 10pl print-heads, specially integrated by Polytype to produce 1,400dpi resolution for lush, rich images suited to a range of industrial and display applications.
In a move characteristic of the Swiss manufacturer, the Virtu Quantum was vigorously tested over a period of months in a fully operational production environment after proof of concept was first demonstrated in 2011. Resultingly, the engine's speeds reach an impressive 300sq m/hour in production mode and a sporty 150-180sq m/hour in photographic mode, meaning that business owners no longer have to compromise between image quality and turnaround time when making large capital investments in their wide-format machinery. Applicable to both roll-to-roll and flat-bed modes and across a range of both popular and unusual media, the versatility afforded owners is a distinct advantage in the current, extremely competitive climate.
Polytype's dedication to accuracy means that customers ordering at the show can have total confidence in the feasibility of the system, and be able to integrate it effortlessly to upgrade their current production processes. The new Quantum series will allow even more depth and colour gamut for the accurate reproduction of typically difficult images, such as skin tones and sought-after brand shades – but at productivity speeds that will challenge even billboard quality modes from rival manufacturers.
“Polytype does what other manufacturers dare not do: we will drive a new machine hard in an actual working situation to make sure that we are aware of all of its capabilities,” explains Sylvia Muhr, sales and marketing director for Polytype's Virtu Business Unit. “In doing so, we have fine-tuned the Virtu Quantum to deliver an unparalleled combination of speed and quality in its machine category, and visitors to our stand at drupa 2012 will be amongst the first to witness it match its full potential.”
Polytype's wide-format technologies are renowned in the marketplace for their exceptional build quality and ability to output with finesse of graduation and detail on innumerable substrates, and have won multiple awards from within the printing industry and in related sectors, such as design. The company's experience ranges from display applications to highly industrial work, with the Virtu Quantum able to sit as the core element in a glass production workflow; significantly, Polytype consults with each customer to ensure that every machine is tuned to their precise specifications, ensuring maximum return on investment for users.
Polytype SA (formerly WP Digital) is renowned in the wide-format digital ink-jet space as a manufacturer of resilient, reliable printing technologies for the production of many different decorative, display and industrial applications. With characteristic Swiss attention to precision engineering inherent to all of its technologies, its Virtu range of wide- and super-wide-format UV-curable printers is recognised for its ability to produce high-quality graphics on a practically unlimited range of substrates.
