HP Z3100 - DesignJet Color Inkjet Printer Manuale utente

Technical Newsletter:

HP Advanced Profiling Solution

June 10th, 2007

Summary

The HP Advanced Profiling Solution (APS) powered by X-Rite is an

integrated solution for calibrating and profiling monitors, profiling

HP Designjet Z Photo Printer series and for validating and

optimizing ICC profiles.

A number of profiling solutions are available ranging from the in-the-

box HP Easy Profiling Solution (EPS), over optional software and

hardware bundles like APS, to high end stand-alone software

packages like X-Rite ProfileMaker, Monaco, or Heidelberg

PrintOpen. The features and price points of these solutions vary

widely, from very easy to use and included in the printer purchase price, to quite

sophisticated and expensive.

The HP Advanced Profiling Solution powered by X-Rite represents a reasonable

middle ground with respect to features and price. All solutions provide good

colorimetric accuracy, but especially the details of perceptual rendering intents can

and do vary. As usual, the best advice is to compare carefully and use the most

fitting tool for the job.

In the following pages we describe in detail the HP Advanced Profiling Solution

(page 2-5) and we provide a comparison to other profiling solutions (page 6).

What is the HP Advanced Profiling Solution (APS)?

The HP Advanced Profiling Solution (APS) powered by X-Rite is a software and

hardware package for generating ICC profiles, with a wizard style user interface.

It uses the HP Designjet Z Photo printer series’ Embedded Spectro-Photometer (ESP)

for printer profiling, and an in-the-box X-Rite Eye-One Display 2 colorimeter for

monitor profiling. Both Mac and Windows versions are available. APS is sold as a

software accessory by HP and/or bundled with certain versions of the HP

Designjet Z Photo printer series (region dependent). The figure below shows the

main user interface.

What does APS do?

HP APS calibrates and builds International Color Consortium (ICC1) compliant

color profiles for HP Designjet Z Photo Printer series and for any computer monitor.

ICC profiles describe the range of colors that a given device can capture or

produce, and how to obtain those colors. They are a fundamental element in

1www.icc.org

digital color management. A number of options are provided for monitor

calibration (white point, gamma, and luminance) and for Z series printer profiling

(chart size, profile size, gray axis style, and viewing light source). The printer

profiling parameters user interface is shown below.

The standard RGB driver print path can be profiled via an on-line workflow (with

integrated chart printing), and third party print paths (e.g. using a Raster Image

Processor) can be profiled via an off-line workflow (with separate printing and

measuring/profiling steps). APS also lets you validate your viewing environment

ambient lighting conditions, and lets you edit the HP Designjet Z Photo printer ICC

profiles it has created. The ambient light check user interface is shown below.

The printer profile editing user interface is shown below.

What does APS

not

do?

APS does not create ICC profiles for scanners, digital cameras, or other kinds of

input devices. It does not work with X-Rite Eye-One or other standalone

colorimeters or spectrophotometers for printer profiling.

While it has a number of parameters for monitor and printer profile creation, it

does not have the sophisticated separation or black generation, gamut mapping

style, and other controls that some profiling packages offer.

The list of supported viewing light sources is more limited (D50, D65) than some

other packages. It does not support software correction for optical brighteners.2It

generates RGB and CMYK printer profiles, but not multi-color or device link

profiles.3The included printer profile editor is a visual one (using a sample image)

for the perceptual rendering intent, and it uses a simple slider based user interface.

2The HP Designjet Z Photo Printer series embedded spectrophotometer has a built-in UV-cut filter,

which makes software correction for optical brighteners unnecessary and irrelevant.

3The fact that RGB or CMYK profiles are being used does not imply that only RGB or CMYK inks

are being used to print the targets. All inks present in the Z series (8 or 12 depending on the

model) will be used via the standard printer drivers. Third party RIPs typically do the same, but

details are RIP-dependent.

It does not allow low level editing of render tables or other ICC profile tags

(components).

Does APS guarantee a perfect match to monitor

(WYSIWYG4)?

No, it does not, and no profiling package does. A color match implies no

perceivable difference (or zero delta-E) between one medium (the monitor) and

another (the print), even when seen side by side. This is only achievable for some

colors (in the intersection of the two device gamuts) in lab conditions with the

strictest control of viewing environments, viewer adaptation, and other variables,

which makes it impractical for real world applications. General color gamut size

and shape differences between monitors and prints imply that there will always be

colors that can be reproduced on one device but not on the other, and vice versa –

obviously making a match impossible for those colors.

What APS can do, however, is to calibrate monitors and printers to a good

degree of accuracy and repeatability for each device, generating the

corresponding ICC profiles. These profiles can be used in application software

and color management systems in general, which can provide a good degree of

similarity between monitors and prints if configured correctly and used correctly (in

the appropriate viewing conditions, for instance). APS does provide an ambient

viewing light check using the included colorimeter, which can help determine if the

viewing conditions are appropriate.

What’s in the box?

The solution includes:

•HP Colorimeter, powered by Eye-One technology

−Calibrate and profile all of your monitors – LCD, CRT, and laptops

•Profiling Software, powered by X-Rite that includes:

−Printer profiling tool: RGB and CMYK print paths, online and offline

workflows

−Display calibration and profiling tool: set white point and gamma,

create profile

−Validation and Optimization tools: check viewing conditions, edit printer

profiles

4WYSIWYG:WhatYouSeeIsWhatYouGet

Printer profiling options

•Supported printer profiling charts:

oHP Easy RGB 1.2 (45 patches), HP RGB 1.5 (288 patches), HP

TC9.18 RGB (1100 patches)

oHP Easy CMYK 1.2 (45 patches), HP CMYK 1.1 (323 patches), HP

ECI2002 CMYK Ref (1496 patches)

•Supported viewing illuminants: D50, D65

•Neutral axis style: Paper Colored Gray, Neutral Gray

•Black generation parameters (CMYK profiles only): Total Ink Coverage,

Black start, Max Black

Technical specifications

Ordering information

Q6695A HP Advanced Profiling Solution International

Q6701A HP Advanced Profiling Solution Japan and Asia Pacific

Recommended system requirements

Macintosh

pple Mac OS X 10.3.9 or above: Mac G5, 1 GB RAM, 2 GB

available hard disk

Windows Windows XP or 2000: Pentium IV, 3 GHz, 1 GB RAM, 2 GB

available hard disk

Other High-speed internet connection, 17” or larger color monitor with

1024 x 768 pixel resolution is recommended

Supported devices for monitor

profiling HP Colorimeter (provided)

Supported devices for printer

profiling HP Embedded Spectrophotometer (Designjet Z series)

Connectivity USB 2.0 (Win & Mac), TCP/IP

How does APS compare to other solutions?

In general, we distinguish a number of different profiling solutions for the HP

Designjet Z Photo printer series, which we will group into levels:

A. In the box: Every HP Designjet Z Photo printer series comes with a complete

printer calibration and profiling solution in the box, known as the HP Easy

Profiling Solution (EPS). It is accessed via the Color Center or Printer Utility,

and it uses the Z printers’ built-in spectrophotometer. As the name indicates,

this solution is aimed at maximum ease of use, and hence provides no

profiling parameters beyond the profile name. EPS generates RGB printer

profiles only for the Z2100 and Z3100 series, and CMYK printer profiles

only for the Z6100 series.

B. HP software accessory and/or bundle with some printer versions (region

dependent): The HP Advanced Profiling Solution powered by X-Rite is a

software and hardware bundle with a broader scope (monitor and printer

profiling, RGB and CMYK printer profiles, viewing condition measurement,

profile editing) and with more flexibility (different profiling charts, online

and offline flow, neutral axis style, etc.).

C. Profiling software bundled with or integrated in third party Raster Image

Processor (RIP) solutions, using the Z series’ embedded spectrophotometer

(ESP). The functionality and features are solution dependent.

D. Stand-alone profiling software packages such as GretagMacbeth (now X-

Rite) ProfileMaker, Monaco (now X-Rite) Profiler, Heidelberg PrintOpen, and

others. These packages may or may not work with the Z series’ embedded

spectrophotometer (ESP), but typically do support a variety of stand-alone

color measurement instruments. The functionality and features are solution

dependent, and range from very simple to very sophisticated.

Characterizing the performance of levels A and B is obviously easier than C and

D, mostly because the number of solutions in levels C and D are potentially quite

large. In what follows we will use just a few representative examples. The matrix

below summarizes the differences between EPS (level A) and APS (level B).

Table: Comparing Easy Profiling Solution (Color Center) and Advanced Profiling Solution features.

Colorimetric accuracy

Color profiles can be evaluated numerically with regards to color accuracy, which

is relevant e.g. for proofing applications. The figure below illustrates typical print-

and-measure color differences in delta-E (1 dE being the smallest perceivable

difference in theory) for the 46 colors represented in the FOGRA5color control

strip processed through the same ISO coated input profile and different HP

Designjet Z3100 Photo Printer output profiles generated with different profiling

packages, on HP Premium Instant Dry Satin paper, in ICC Absolute Colorimetric

mode.

Accuracy Results with Fogra Target (46 Color Patches)

EPS APS ProfileMaker V5 Monaco

Profiling Solution

DE76

Substrate

Mean

Max

Primary

Table: comparing typical print-and-measure color accuracy results for different profiling packages,

using the FOGRA color control strip and the HP Designjet Z3100 printer on HP Premium Instant Dry

Satin paper.

Perceptual rendering

For photographic applications, numerical color accuracy is less important than

what the final print looks like to an observer. Unfortunately this is a rather difficult

thing to measure quantitatively, because we have no access to directly measurable

quantities inside observers’ heads. The results can and do also depend on the type

5http://www.fogra.org/FOGRAisaninternationalorganizationwiththeobjectivetopromoteprint

engineeringanditsfuture‐orientedtechnologiesinthefieldsofresearch,developmentandapplication,

andtoenabletheprintingindustrytoutilizetheresultsofthisactivity

of images printed, the type of substrate (paper) being used, the viewing

environment that prints are seen in, the kind of application or use that prints are

meant for, and even who is doing the viewing, their psychological state, and

eventually personal preferences.6

Having said all that, we can provide a rough indication of observer preference for

a particular test image printed with the Z3100 on HP Hahnemühle Smooth Fine Art

paper. Obviously this can only be taken as indicating a trend for a particular

image, paper, and group of observers. As always, your mileage can vary. The

figure below illustrates the test image, made available on the internet by well-

known photographer and color management guru Bill Atkinson

(http://www.billatkinson.com/). As specifically established by Bill Atkinson in his

web site: “These files are offered in the spirit of one artist sharing brushes with

other artists. I hope you find them useful, but please understand that they come

with no support whatsoever. If you need help, ask a friend”

Figure: Bill Atkinson’s test image used for a perceptual print quality test (this is a reduced size

version, and converted from the original CIELAB color space to sRGB)

6OrastheancientRomanswouldhaveit:Degustibusetcoloribusnondisputandumest![Onecannot

argueaboutcolorsandtastes].

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