Specifications

Image Quality
Copyright © 2009 BERTL Inc. September 25, 2009
All Rights Reserved. The license under which this document is made available and applicable law prohibit any reproduction or further transmission of any portion of this document. This
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Page 20
August 2009
RISO ComColor 9050
www.BERTL.com
BERTL DTP BOOKLET IMAGE QUALITY
The RISO COMCOLOR® 9050 is not designed to generate
beautiful glossy finished documents with color matching
capabilities. Depending on the type of paper used users can
expect to generate very decent image quality. However, this
device is designed for applications where the output is
disposable and used for a short period of time. Suggested
applications are internal documents, bills, and trans-
promotional mailing pieces. In this test, BERTL printed the
DTP Booklet and compared the quality of output to that of
other devices.
IMAGE DENSITY
BERTL uses a calibrated X-Rite reflection densitometer to
measure the density of a black image. The instrument reports
density in the range of 0.0 (absolute white) to 2.5 (infinite
blackness). In general, image density that is greater than 1.0
generally has contrast that is acceptable for readability, and
the higher the reading the better.
Test Result - The RISO ComColor® 9050 produced prints
with an image density of .96. Currently, there are a handful of
printers that can produce prints with 1.7+ black image density,
while average image-density readings range from 1.4 to 1.6.
Recently, a color printer produced images with a density of
1.84—the highest density (or the “blackest” print) ever
recorded by BERTL’s analysts.
Density of Solid Areas*
Copy Density Print Density
Black .81 .96
Cyan .77 .66
Yellow .55 .51
Magenta .84 .77
*Density is on a scale of 0 to 2.5, with 2.5 being the best possible.
Copy & Print Resolution*
Copy Resolution Print Resolution
Vertical Horizontal Vertical Horizontal
Black 5.6 5.6 2.0 2.0
Cyan -- -- 2.0 2.0
Yellow -- -- 2.0 2.0
Magenta -- -- 2.0 2.0
*Line Pairs per Millimeter. For copy resolution, higher is better (range,
2.0-8.0); for printer resolution, lower is better (range, 1.0-5.0).
Print Halftones
Min. Gradation* Max. Gradation**
Black 10 100
Cyan 10 100
Yellow 10 100
Magenta 10 100
*Minimum gradation is on a scale of 10 – 100 percent in 10 percent
increments. The best possible minimum gradation is 10 percent.
**Maximum gradation is on a scale of 10 – 100 percent in 10 percent
increments. The best possible maximum gradation is 100 percent.
Copy Halftones
Min. Gradation* Max. Gradation**
Black 10 90
Cyan 10
90
Yellow 10
90
Magenta 10
90
*Minimum gradation is on a scale of 10 – 100 percent in 10 percent
increments. The best possible minimum gradation is 10 percent.
**Maximum gradation is on a scale of 10 – 100 percent in 10 percent
increments. The best possible maximum gradation is 100 percent.
TEXT
BERTL’s DTP booklet contains arrays of negative and positive
text in various sizes ranging in size from 2 to 20 pts. Fonts
were also rotated 90 and 180 degrees. The accuracy of text
reproduction is paramount throughout the entire spectrum of
graphic designers, book manufacturers, marketing
departments, technical data, financial reporting, billing
departments and all cross sections of the printing industry.
Expectations for quality text reproduction have risen with the
advancement in technology. Nobody likes to see jagged text
on pages, even if it is a small font.
Test Result – The RISO ComColor® 9050 produced both serif
and non-serif fonts (negative, positive and rotated) that were
readable by eye down to 4 point in size. When viewed under
10x magnification, all positive font sizes and rotations were
readable down to 3 point in size, while negative font sizes were
readable down to 5 point.
FINE LINES AND DOTS
The BERTL DTP booklet contains elements that are used to
evaluate fine-line graphics on both the x
and y axis. These elements consist of
negative and positive lines and dots of
various sizes and colors. To the right is
the test pattern used to evaluate the dot-
control capabilities of a printer. As lines
are composed of a series of dots, the
ability of a device to control dots is
directly related to its ability to produce fine
lines. The ability to finely control the placement of dots also is