System Enables Printers to Be Self-Calibrating

摘要

Webster, NY―Printed colors have been one of the toughest things to get consistently right because there are so many variables in the production process, whether it is digital or traditional offset. Scientists at Xerox Corp.'s Webster research center now claim to have invented and patented an ultra-fast, low-cost spectropho-tometer that they expect to streamline and simplify color printing. The spectrophotometer is said to cost less than one-sixth the price of current models. It can be embedded inside a digital printer to take color measurements on each passing page in a few milliseconds. As the paper moves at the printer's rates speed, the measurement device shines light of different colors from several LEDs onto tiny printed color patches, analyzes the reflected light and determines its color makeup.