Let us imagine for a moment, a bleak, intimidating room with CAT and MRI scanners now transformed into a spaceship!? That sounds incredible, right? But it is not. This is a real situation that has happened in Hospital Sant Joan de Déu (Barcelona) where this room is now a complete spaceship, with all the walls and machines wrapped with images and pictures to take young patients into a space adventure… what a difference for a kid and their family! HP have a mission to improve the quality of life for all people, thanks to technology. By creating printers and inks based on HP Latex technology, HP has expanded the capabilities of signage printing.
Sant Joan de Déu Hospital is just one example of an application that didn’t exist a while ago, so it is up to you to print where no-one has ever printed before and conquer new applications with the use of HP Latex technology.
Thanks to this new technology, printing applications have expanded radically in both outdoor and indoor spaces. HP Latex inks are water-based inks with latex components. Since HP Latex inks are odorless, toxic-free and environmental friendly, the printed media can be mounted no matter where and on any size, e.g. walls, buildings, cars, trains, buses, canvases, etc. You just need an idea and, with the appropriate media, the printer does the rest.
HP Latex Inks contain an aqueous dispersion of microscopic polymer particles that form a durable film on the surface of a media to protect the pigments.
The first Generation were the first set of HP Latex Inks; introduced back in 2008 as a water-based alternative to solvent ink technologies, they provided vivid image quality, reliable colors for coated and uncoated media and a healthier printing environment.
The second Generation of HP Latex Inks offered larger color gamut to improve color consistency across all the prints, improved gloss effect and prints that were instantly dry. This technology achieved a very positive market reputation and an increase in its usage.
The third Generation of HP Latex Inks contain two new elements: an anti-scratch agent, which lubricates the print surface to resist penetration by sharp objects, and HP Latex Optimizer, which employs positively-charged polymers that are suspended in a colorless, water-based ink vehicle. Delivered by an HP printhead, the amount of HP Latex Optimizer can be adjusted for specific materials using a media profiler. Once on the print, the positively-charged polymers coat the negatively-charged pigments, neutralizing the surface charge of the pigments and causing them to become immobilized on the print surface. This produces sharp text and image detail by suppressing feathering and color bleed, especially at high productivity levels.
All in all, both color consistency and printing productivity are improved.
Go behind the scenes at the HP Latex Research and Development facilities to learn more about the HP Latex Inks technology.
