OUTPUT

Introduced forever ago when it was the Nur Tempo Q, the HP FB6100 was a rebadged version of a wide-format engine introduced as part of the HP line at drupa 2008. I say 'was' because HP has discontinued this machine, which means it has definitely had its day. The FB6100 was positioned for wide-format industrial applications printing on rigid and flexible media, coping with roll-fed materials up to 2.2m wide and rigid substrates 2.2 x 3.2m and 5.1cm thick. It was relatively quick (up to 100sq m/hr in four-colour mode) and according to HP it sold well, at least until the market started overtaking it.

This eight-colour engine printed 1,270 x 800dpi and included various features to maximise quality such as a small 28pl drop size, SmoothPrint to compensate for missing nozzles and allowing operators to switch between four, six, eight and white-colour modes.

Just reading the spec is enough to understand why the FB6100 has had its day and HP has put it out to grass. Droplet sizes on a number of industrial wide-format machines are these days as little as twelve or 14pl and four-colour output speeds are up to 223sq m/hr and higher. Wide-format printing technology has clearly moved at an astonishing rate in the last few years. However, the pace of new technology introductions has now steadied and we are in a new phase in technology development for wide-format work. Last year was relatively quiet as we saw more refining and fine-tuning of existing technologies rather than breakthrough ideas.

This is a natural path and one that is leading to more consolidation and a reduction in the number of products from vendors such as HP. There is a cost to support a vast array of engines, particularly ones that aren't desperately competitive, so it makes sense to see outmoded engines discontinued. This consolidation is in the interests of sign and display producers and the wider industry. A clutter of technologically redundant products wastes the time and energy of prospective buyers and of suppliers who must support them. The money saved on selling and supporting cobwebby kit is far better spent on research and development into altogether more exciting machines.

Click here to read Sophie Matthews-Paul's response to the Question of the Week, Has the HP FB6100 had its day? What do you think? Use the comments form below to give your opinion.