Electronic ink introduction and advantages

Electronic ink

With the continuous networking and digitalization of printing technology, digital offset printing has begun to gain popularity both at home and abroad, and a new type of ink, electronic ink, suitable for use in digital offset printing machines has also been used by people. Electronic inks contain charged liquid ink particles that make it possible to electronically control the position of printed particles in digital printing. Electronic inks can reach very small particles (1 to 2 microns), so that small particles enable the printing to reach higher resolution and smoothness, sharpen the edge of the image, and form a very thin image layer. Electronic inks have now taken effect in the following areas. (1) The standard basic color CMYK; (2) The wide color gamut six-color setting adds orange and purple, so that the color reproduction capability is much higher than the original four-color color reproduction capability; (3) PANTONE compatible Indigo Spot color system; (4) opaque white coating of colorless printing materials; (5) fluorescent ink. Indigo's color digital offset printers provide a unique combination of features. The presses use electronic ink (Indigo's unique liquid ink).

Electronic ink generally has the following advantages:

(1) High brightness, high definition and durability. Manufacturers use the same components as traditional inks, and only charge inks to make electronic inks. Therefore, electronic inks read similar to inks traditionally printed on paper, but they have high brightness and contrast when matched with paper. And can have a 180 degree perspective. (2) Low energy consumption. Once the white paint particle is driven to a state where an image has already appeared, the image may disappear (because there is no additional energy support), but this does not exist for the electronic ink. (3) strong printability. Electronic ink can be applied to almost all materials, it can be printed on textiles, paper, plastics and many other materials. We know that the LCD is displayed on the glass, but it is heavy and fragile. The electronic ink can be displayed on the plastic surface, which makes it ultra-thin, elastic and not brittle. Electronic ink is an ink. If someone accidentally gets splashed with electronic ink when he enters the laboratory, the person becomes a walking monitor.

Printing with electronic ink is very easy. For example: It can be used for web printing, and it is estimated that glossy advertising papers and other large format labels can be used in the near future. Today, electronic ink has begun to cooperate with other electronic devices. For example, E-Ink recently announced that it will cooperate with IBM to jointly develop a world-class SVGA electronic ink-based display, and it is estimated that electronic ink-based displays may be put into the market within the next year or two. It is said that electronic ink will also cooperate with emerging changes in the entire publishing industry in the field of printed electronics. Here, E-Ink and Lucent Technologies have produced the world's first fully printed display. Their ultimate goal is to print on one side of the paper with ink and the other side with electronic ink.

Author: Qi into

Reprinted from: Graphic Arts