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Durst Rho 700 reviews initiated

The Durst Rho 700 was first shown in its stand at FESPA Digital. Next the Durst Rho 700 was presented for two weeks at DRUPA. But trade shows are rather hectic for doing an evaluation, so we initiate our reviews of the Durst Rho 700 UV-curable combo printer when it is possible to do test prints at a demo center or undertake a site-visit case study at a printshop that has one installed. In the meantime, FLAAR Reports are available on the Rho 800 and Rho 351R .

The new series of Durst Rho printers utilize a magnetic linear drive system for the carriage, which exemplifies the sophistication of printers made in Europe.

Some samples printed by the Durst Rho 700 UV curable printer at FESPA Digital 2008.

Booth of Durst Rho 700 at Drupa 2008.

Here the Durst Rho 700 printer showing some samples at VISCOM Italy 2008.

FLAAR Inspection of the Durst Rho 700 goes deeper

There are so many UV-curable combo-style flatbed printers that it is a challenge to understand the benefits and downsides of each. A combo-style is our classification for any printer that has a moving transport belt. These combo-style systems are significantly better than any hybrid system. A hybrid system is not much more than the standard solvent ink chassis from ten years ago which attempts to move the materials with old-fashioned pinch rollers working over the material which is supposedly moved with grit rollers under the material that you are hoping to print on without skewing.

Durst is a high-end manufacturer and would never consider a hybrid style printer for serious production. But if you need a cheaper entry-level printer, hybrid printers are available (just understand that many materials may skew). Another downside of hybrid printers is that you have to tape, by hand, an extra piece of material at the end of the flat board you are hoping to print on (otherwise the last portion of the board can't feed itself since it has passed the pinch rollers but has not yet reached under the path of the printhead carriage). This situation is what caused the ultimate lack of acceptance of the otherwise nice Keundo UV-cured printer: there was too much space between the pinch rollers and where the printer was actually printing.

Durst does not come from solvent printer world, so they do not need to retrofit old solvent printers in order to create a UV-cured wide-format inkjet printer.

During 2008 it was possible to learn about Durst Rho printers by visiting Durst five times: three times at the Brixen, Italy factory and demo room and twice at the Lienz, Austria factory and demo room. The Rho 700 and Rho 800 are made in the Lienz facility. So since the printer was first shown at DRUPA, I have had opportunities to inspect the machine and do test printing so I could evaluate the resulting quality. The result of this inspection is available in a FLAAR Report, so this present web page can be short because all the discussion is in the full-color PDF. There is no cost for these reports.

Here is Dr. Nicholas Hellmuth with the Durst Rho 700 at Durst Rho factory in Lienz, Austria, 2008.

The Durst Rho 700 UV-cured combo flatbed printer printing some samples at factory visiti in Lienz, Austria.

Sample printed by the Durst Rho 700 UV-cured combo flatbed.

 

Most recently updated April 6, 2009.

First posted March 31, 2008. Updated June 17, 2008.