Colour Image Quality

Quality designed in from day one

The Panasonic Colour MFP range have been designed from the ground up to deliver the ultimate in image quality and reliability. There are multiple factors that can affect image quality from the environment that the unit is sited in to the type of work and the number of multiple copies or prints produced. The Panasonic machines have a host of advanced electronic systems that manage virtually all of the variables that often cause a degradation in quality to ensure perfect prints time after time.

Change the mix and keep the solids (Developer Gamma Compensation)

With most colour copiers or printers if an image requires particularly dense or solid areas of toner two things can be adjusted, either the laser power or the drum development charge. The problem with this is that no matter how much stronger you make the laser power if the toner mix in the developer tank isn’t at the optimum concentration the image can’t be made any denser.
The Panasonic MFPs has the ability to add additional developer and toner to ensure that the image quality is always at the optimum level. The need to change the toner density is detected by the Image Density Sensor and using Developer Gamma Compensation the machine automatically adds the appropriate level of toner and developer to the mix.

Trickle Development to constantly maintain quality and ensure consistency

Each of the four toner cartridges includes a small quantity of developer mixed with the toner, this developer is then constantly added to the developer tank as a constant “trickle”. At the same time as the new developer is added the waste developer is removed from the developer tank. This ensures that the developer is always in the optimum condition even when the machine is producing a long run of prints.

Laser Power that can be adjusted on the fly (Pulse Width Modulation)

As with many laser printers the colour Panasonic uses laser light to generate the charge on the drums which ultimately become the image on the page. The major difference with the Panasonic system is PWM or Pulse Width Modulation, this means that the machine is able to adjust not only the power of the laser but also the width of the beam itself.
Fine line details are more defined and the prints are created with incredible levels of detail. Of course it is imperative that the drum units are able to maintain the ability to hold the charge from the laser units, for this reason the Drum Life Compensation circuits adjust the image edge and eliminate isolated dots. These can be very irritating for the user and are often a symptom of drum degradation.
In order to ensure that the toner is transferred from the drum surface to the paper the First Transfer Roller Compensation Circuit ensures that the drum is in contact with the transfer belt at an even pressure at all times. Similarly the Secondary Transfer Roller Compensation ensures that the image moves evenly from the transfer belt to the paper surface, even allowing for different types of paper and card, whilst precise control of the fusing temperature is maintained by Panasonic’s unique IH (Induction Heating) technology.

Working in perfect harmony (Auto Print Image Control)

The Automatic Print Image Control or APIC process brings together all of these separate elements to ensure optimum image quality. The machine first adjusts the laser power to allow for the condition of the drums, next it places three sets of patches on each drum, solid, light and dark.
These are then analysed and the Toner Density Control, Developer Gamma Control and the Laser Pulse Width Modulation are adjusted. Next the machine prints a pattern in three places and transfers these to the belt. It then checks the alignment of the belt to ensure that the registration of each colour is exact. The registration adjustment also adjusts for either the belt or laser becoming skewed.

How much more does all this cost and will it slow the machine down?

The good news is that all of this technology is built into the Panasonic units as standard offering unrivalled levels of image quality and colour consistency. The APIC calibration process happens every 170 prints if the output is 100% black and white and takes just 6 seconds. The machine will simply pause and then restart where it left off. If the prints that you make are 100% colour then the process will happen every 105 prints and take just 20 seconds. This ability to recalibrate and ensure optimum image quality quickly is key to providing maximum productivity. Many competitor models can take as long as 170 seconds to perform the same process that takes just 20 seconds with the Panasonic Colour unit.

All of this advanced technology has one simple aim, to ensure the best possible colour output. Not just when the engineer has just been, not at the beginning of a run, but consistently throughout the machine’s life. With the Panasonic Colour units you get the best print the machine is capable of producing every time, automatically!