CAS/TECH REVIEW
By Chris and Kathi Morrison
Chris and Kathi Morrison own and operate The Image Specialists, a
full-service graphics company based in Clements, CA. Chris is also
a Microsoft-certified systems engineer (MCSE).
Mimaki’s JV2-130 Digital Inkjet Printer
This system provides color for all reasons.
KEY INFORMATION
Report Date: May 2000
Company: Mimaki USA Inc.
3308 Peachtree Industrial Blvd.
Suite 110
Duluth, GA 30098
Phone: (678) 475-1236 or
(888) 530-4039
Fax: (678) 475-1846
Website: www.mimakiusa.com
Contact: Conrad Simoneau,
VP Engineering
Background: Established in 1974,
with Mimaki Engineering Co. Ltd.
as the parent company, Mimaki
USA manufactures and markets
printers and plotters for the
CAD/CAM arena.
Minimum System Requirements:
Windows 95/98/NT; Centronics or
Ethernet connection
W
e’ve reviewed many
inkjet printer/plotters from
major manufacturers, but until
now we haven’t had the pleasure of reviewing Mimaki’s
JV2-130. While many of
you are familiar with the
company’s reputable vinyl
cutters, you might not be
aware of it’s high-end inkjet printing
solutions. Mimaki’s JV2-130, a sevencolor, piezo inkjet printer, is loaded
with a number of features, making it
a product worthy of careful consideration if you are in the market for a
production-level digital printing
solution.
When we received the JV2-130, it
came in two enormous boxes. From
the start, we knew we were dealing
with a machine that would be at
home in the largest of digital-printing
shops. Typically we can install just
about any equipment by ourselves,
but in this case, the head alone
List Price: Contact the manufacturer directly.
Note: ST’s product-review policy is that
items must have been offered for sale for
30 days before the review. Add this to ST’s
typical production time, and at least 60
days may have passed since this product
was presented. New or revised editions
may have come on the market during
that time.
Fig. 1: The JV2-130’s control panel has a
simple, but easy-to-use configuration.
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SIGNS OF THE TIMES / JULY 2000
Mimaki USA's seven-color JV2-130 piezo inkjet
giant will satisfy your appetite for a variety of
digital projects.
weighed more than 250 lbs. Be prepared to have a few extra friends
available to construct this brute.
Installing the printer was fairly
easy. First, we constructed the stand,
positioned the head and bolted it in
place. Mimaki uses some of the hardware that secures the printer during
shipping for the installation process,
so be careful not to discard anything.
We had no difficulty matching parts
and following the installation guide.
It took us approximately 30-40 minutes to assemble the printer.
Features
The first thing to notice is the printer’s
size — nearly 7 ft. wide and 20 in.
deep. Be sure you have adequate
space to accommodate the printer.
The JV2-130 differs from most systems we have used in that the ink
cartridges are inserted on both sides
of the printer. They’re conveniently
numbered one through seven. Most
machines use four or six colors,
seldom seven.
The power button is positioned
below the platen on the front left
side of the printer. The printer comes
standard with an IEEE 1284 parallel
interface, but an optional Ethernet
connection is also available. The
parallel cable is attached to the printer
in a port on the bottom of the head.
Fig. 2: The JV2-130 has four rubber rollers to ensure accurate tracking without marring the media.
The control panel, a 16-character
LCD that sits above a cluster of
membrane buttons (Fig. 1), could be
a bit larger, but it was adequate for
the machine’s setup and operation.
The buttons are used to enter parameters as well as position the media.
Depending upon the printer’s mode,
a group of arrows can be used to enter parameters, position the media
up or down or position the printhead left or right.
A “Remote/Local” key acts as an
online/offline button. If the printer is
in local mode, a computer cannot
print to it. In this mode, various
functions can be entered. Use the
“Function” button to navigate menus;
use the “Enter” key to change or set
various parameters.
Media handling
The JV2-130 can handle media rolls
or sheets up to 52 in. The welldesigned mechanism holds media
rolls and prevents drift. Four adjustable rubber rollers are used to
feed the media (Fig. 2). We were
concerned that the middle rollers
would scratch the media surface.
Most printers in this class use a gritwheel configuration that embosses
the media edges. You typically see
only two pinch rollers on these types
of machines. The JV2-130 didn’t
cause any damage to the media, and
it also tracked very accurately.
Loading media was a snap. The
machine accommodates both 2- and
3-in. core diameter rolls, with an
adapter used on the former. The
positive spin on a smaller core allows
more media per roll. Our test media
had a 3-in. core, so no adapter was
needed. The loading lever, located
on the right side of the printer below
the platen, allowed us to mount the
roll, adjust the rollers to their marked
positions and close the media lever.
When the machine was powered, it
detected the media for size.
There’s also a standard powered
take-up mechanism (Fig. 3) that
allows for unattended printing by
rolling the prints onto a take-up core.
It can be adjusted to roll in either
direction so you can have the print
side in or out. In addition, this feature, which isn’t commonly found on
most digital printers, allows you to
print overnight without worrying
about damaged prints bunching up
on the floor.
Ink handling
Mimaki obviously understands the
problems facing digital printers and
different types of businesses that use
these devices. Some businesses that
produce photo enlargements could
care less about durability. Signshops,
however, are usually interested in
durability and in particular, weatherability. Many printer companies have
offered pigmented inks that resist UV
rays, but typically, signshops sacrifice
print quality or color vibrance to
attain UV stability. While there has
been some improvement, it’s not
nearly enough to make outdoor digital printing viable with inkjets.
Mimaki claims its pigmented inks
remain stable for three years outdoors, if laminated. But what really
surprised us were the glossy finishes
in the final output. Generally, the
tradeoff for outdoor durability is a
dull finish. Not so with the JV2-130.
The printer accommodates seven
ink cartridges. Six stations hold
process colors, which create a wide
range of hues by mixing cyan, magenta, yellow and black. Some colors
produced by a four-color process are
inaccurate. Further, oranges, greens
and browns typically show the worst
effect, and subtle shades also suffer
because the media’s white surface is
used to subdue colors.
Mimaki presents two options to
address these inadequacies. Besides
the common CMYK cartridges,
Mimaki also offers four other process
colors that can greatly extend the
machine’s color gamut. First, a light
cyan/light magenta solution offers an
extended color space and provides
accurate flesh tones (this is our
opinion and not scientific proof).
Second, a process green/orange
solution corrects the problems seen
in greens, oranges and browns. If
you work with bright colors, this is
Fig. 3: The power take-up reel is shown with a
cardboard core installed. A switch on the unit
controls shows which way the finished prints
are wound.
SIGNS OF THE TIMES / JULY 2000
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CAS/TECH REVIEW
the way to go. For our testing, we
chose to use the CMYKOG solution.
The inks are available in self-contained 220cc cartridges that are very
easy to install (Fig. 4) and numbered
to correspond to their respective slot,
eliminating possible loading mistakes.
After the seven primary cartridges are
installed, the system automatically
primes the ink. The ink levels are
also automatically monitored, and
the machine alerts you when it’s time
for a new cartridge. Mimaki also says
the ink can be changed “on-the-fly,”
meaning if you run out of ink in a
cartridge, you can replace it while
the printer is processing a job.
Another surprise about the prints
is that they dry almost immediately.
We had wondered how an auto
winder works without a corresponding ink-drying unit. Now we know.
Our final word on the ink system
deals with the mysterious seventh
ink station, which is used for spot
colors. This advanced feature is not
seen in other inkjet products we’ve
tested. Mimaki provides a few spot
Fig. 4: Notice the ink stations and cartridges are numbered for easy installation. Position 1 is used
for a spot color.
colors now, but more will be available in the future.
One ink type featured is a black
cartridge. Black is included in the
process set already, but that ink is a
transparent process color. Mimaki’s
Artwork Black, a high-density black
used in conjunction with a clear film
to produce film positives for burning
screens, can be used by shops that
also screenprint. The resulting prints
are dense enough to block the UV
levels typically produced by an exposure unit. This is truly innovative.
Mimaki has a wide variety of
media available for the JV2-130, including glossy paper, matte paper,
both glossy and matte adhesive
Fig. 5: The head height adjustment is located on the front of the printing head. You can see one of
the two locking screws in the lower right portion of the photo.
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SIGNS OF THE TIMES / JULY 2000
vinyls, waterproof and synthetic
papers and nonflammable cloth. This
brings us to another interesting aspect of the JV2-130’s design — its
inkjet head technology. This printer
uses a piezo printhead designed for
continuous, heavy-duty use.
There are two major types of
inkjet heads on the market. Most
printers use a thermal-inkjet head
that boils water-based ink to force it
through the nozzle. This type of
head is plentiful but self-destructive.
Most desktop inkjet printers are
thermal-inkjet printers. When you
run out of ink, you can replace the
entire head along with the ink supply. This adds cost every time you
change the cartridge.
Piezo printers use electricity to
squeeze a drop of ink through the
nozzle. This technology produces
very little wear and tear on the head
itself, meaning it lasts longer than a
thermal head. When you run out of
ink, you just add more. Over time,
this saves supply costs.
The Mimaki uses a piezo head with
a unique feature. In the past, we’ve
encountered problems when passing
thick materials, like artist’s canvas,
through an inkjet printer. (A heavy
paper is 7 mils thick, and a canvas is
roughly 12 mils.) If the inkjet head
scrapes or contacts the media, ink
builds up on the head, and the
carriage movement can produce a
dark streak.
The JV2-130, on the other hand,
has a head-height adjustment (Fig. 5)
that can accommodate both thick
and thin media. Just release the locking screws (a coin will work for
CAS/TECH REVIEW
this), move the lever to thick or thin
and turn down the locking screws.
This great feature is unique to the
JV2-130.
Operating specifications
The JV2-130, a dual-resolution machine, prints at a resolution up to
1440 dpi. With a 720-dpi resolution,
the JV2-130 produces very impressive
prints when viewed from normal
distances. However, for posters and
graphics viewed from a greater distance, 360 dpi is the obvious choice.
The lower-resolution files take considerably less time to process, and
the quality is stunning.
How fast is the machine? That depends on the print quality you desire. Mimaki says the JV2-130 is three
times faster than its JV-1300. That
works out to 90 seconds per sq. ft.
for the high-speed mode, 160 seconds per sq. ft. for standard quality
and 180 seconds per sq. ft. for the
high-quality mode. A 2 × 3-ft. print
Fig. 6: This is the first production print we created on the JV2-130. The original artwork was a
standard postcard.
can be completed in 16 minutes, excluding processing. While this is not
the fastest inkjet on the market, we
found the printer to be fairly peppy.
Project
Now that we’ve discussed the machine’s features, let’s take it for a
spin. For this review, we created
signage for a local jazz benefit. The
customer needed several banners
and a few posters. For artwork, the
client supplied a postcard that publicized the event. We decided the JV2130 was a perfect choice for the digital printing. We only had one major
reservation.
Fig. 7: The postcard didn’t really show off the printer’s capabilities. This sailboat image looks
great on the shop wall and illustrates the printer’s color range.
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SIGNS OF THE TIMES / JULY 2000
Since this is a fairly new product,
none of our RIP software had printer
drivers for the JV2-130. The JV2-130
comes with a RIP called Win Link,
and is supported by RIPs from
Wasatch, Onxy, Scanvec-Amiable,
CADLink, ErgoSoft and Visual Edge,
but we did not have these to test, so
we decided to use a Windows 95/98
driver and print directly from Adobe
Photoshop™.
It was a fairly easy job to directly
scan the postcard and scale it to the
specified 3 × 2-ft. size. The driver
had many options and was fairly
flexible. Because the machine was in
metric units, we had to use a calculator to convert inches into millimeters. It took less than 20 minutes to
print the first image (Fig. 6), and we
knocked out the job in about an hour.
As you can see from the photo,
the image didn’t push the machine’s limits. So we decided to do
a more challenging job — a poster
for the shop. First, we found a sailboat image on a stock photo CD.
Then, we took into Photoshop and
sized it to 2 × 3 ft. The output was
stunning and adds character to our
wall (Fig. 7).
Mimaki has constructed a fine
product. Its JV2-130 offers a balance
of features that should make it a
favorite in high-production shops.
The six-color system with an optional
spot color is more than enough to
satisfy the most finicky customer.
The integrated auto winder, low-ink
sensor and high-printing speed will
also make the printer a favorite
among signshop owners. If you’re
seeking great quality and unattended
operation, consider the JV2-130. ■