Epson Stylus Pro 4900 A2 – Large format printer

• 11-colour UltraChrome HDR ink set
• Reliable Advanced-TFP print head
• 98% Pantone coverage
• Print speed of 46ml per hour
• High capacity front-loading cassette
• 200ml high capacity cartridges
• Optional inline SpectroProofer
• Automatic switching between cut sheet and roll paper
• Automatic switching between photo and matte black inks, which are pre-installed
• ENERGY STAR qualified
• Choice of paper paths – cassette, top and front manual board feed or roll
• Print on media up to 1.5mm thickBasic technical Specs

Features (Epson info)

Epson UltraChrome HDR Ink Technology

• Unique High Dynamic Range (HDR) pigments for an extremely wide colour gamut
• Ten-colour printing system including all-new Orange and Green inks
• Certified by PANTONE to cover 98% of the Formula Guide Solid Coated*
• Designed to work with Epson AccuPhoto HDR screening technology
• Professional print permanence ratings
• Outstanding short-term colour stability for mission-critical proofing applications
• Improved Microcrystal Encapsulation Technology for reduced gloss differential
• Improved black density up to 2.6 with an L* value ~3.0**

• * When printing on Epson Proofing Paper White Semimatte with the standard Epson driver at 2,880 x 1,440 dpi. PANTONE coverage may vary when printed with a 3rd party RIP.
  ** Dmax and L* values are based on Epson Premium Luster Photo Paper (260)

The printer ships with full cartridges and part of the ink from the first cartridges is used for priming the printer. Printer ships with 110 ml cartridges. Photo Black cartridge included, Matte Black must be purchased separately.
Epson SpectroProofer

• Optional 17-inch wide spectrophotometer developed jointly with X-Rite
• Simple installation; fits cleanly into the front of the Epson Stylus Pro 4900*
• Incorporates a high performance X-Rite ILS20 spectrophotometer for extreme measurement accuracy below 0.2 dECMC
• UV-cut and non-UV-cut versions available at the time of purchase
• Both black and white interchangeable backing plates included
• Built-in print dryer to accelerate the dry-down and reading process
• Built-in temperature sensors for internal mechanism and surrounding environment
• When driven by the latest front-end RIP software, the Epson SpectroProofer can automate virtually any color management process in your workflow

• * Adding SpectroProofer imparts three functional changes: Borderless printing and the front straight through thick-cut paper path are not available, minimum roll media cut length increases to 8.25 inches.

SP 4900 Inks (200ml)

• Cyan Cartridge (C13T653200)
• Yellow Cartridge (C13T653400)
• Photo Black Cartridge (C13T653100)
• Vivid Magenta Cartridge (C13T653300)
• Light Cyan Cartridge (C13T653500)
• Vivid Light Magenta Cartridge (C13T653600)
• Light Black Cartridge (C13T653700)
• Matte Black Cartridge (C13T653800)
• Light Light Black Cartridge (C13T653900)
• Orange Cartridge (C13T653A00)
• Green Cartridge (C13T653B00)

Pre release rumours/info

September 20th Photokina starts tomorrow, so we’re expecting to get an Epson press release before too long.

July

30th Epson are announcing three new professional printers at Photokina this year. Epson press info

The 4880 was announced in July 2007, along with the 7880 and 9880.

Look for the HDR ink set to appear in a 17″ printer and update for the 11880.

What of the third printer? Possibly a 4500 ‘graphics version’ such as the 9450, 4450 and 7450 (the equivalents to the 4400 et al. ) which are aimed at the “Point of Sale (POS), Computer Aided Design (CAD), Geographic Information System (GIS) and corporate markets”

2010 March

9th After a trip to the UK Focus show yesterday, I’m minded to think we’ll see an all new design 4900 printer announced for Photokina.

10 ink carts, no black swap and pressurised carts were the big features I heard discussed.

I’m putting this one into the ‘maybe’ category, and might expect to actually see a printer by early 2011.

2009 January

12th Since we had our first decent 3900 rumour today, this 4900 page has been set up.

No news yet – the 4880 was announced in mid 2007, so we don’t really expect a replacement until 2010 at the earliest.

However, if you know better then please let us know ;-)

Expect a new design to allow more colour inks and both matt and photo black to be used with no complex switching.

4900 Information

Epson press info

The UK photography version

21 September 2010 –

Epson launches the Stylus Pro 4900 – a 17-inch production printer setting new standards in colour precision for the photography and fine art markets. Delivering the best print quality for commercial photographs and fine art reproduction, the printer boasts outstanding colour consistency and accurate colour matching. Its high level of automation and robust mechanism make the Epson Stylus Pro 4900 a highly productive workhorse for the print studio environment.

Creating exceptional photographs and fine art images is easy with the Epson Stylus Pro 4900, thanks to one of the widest colour gamuts on the market. Colours on the print are identical to that of the original image, even when reproduced on a wide range of media. The optional in-line SpectroProofer ensures repeatable colour accuracy and will accurately measure colour charts enabling the data to be used for custom media ICC profile creation.

Every print has a professional finish with precise and consistent colour reproduction. This comes from the printer driver’s advanced halftoning technology, coupled with Epson’s 11-colour UltraChrome HDR inks and Advanced-TFP print head for superior dot quality. These technologies are identical to those used in Epson’s larger format production printers up to 44 inches.

The Epson Stylus Pro 4900 represents a big boost in productivity, with a production speed of 46m2/hour and minimal maintenance requirements. Its high capacity front-loading cassette makes inserting paper easy, and automated paper changing means no time is wasted switching between cut sheet and roll paper. The printer also switches automatically between photo and matte black inks. All inks come in high capacity 200ml cartridges for less frequent changes and better value.

Martin Johns, market development manager for large format printers at Epson UK, says: “Offering photographers outstanding flexibility, the Epson Stylus Pro 4900 creates better-than-lab-quality prints on a wide range of media up to 1.5mm thick, including 330gsm Traditional Photo media presentation matte board, canvas and fine art paper. Users can select a paper path that best fits their needs from a choice of cassette, top and front manual board feed or roll.”

Qualified by ENERGY STAR, the Epson Stylus Pro 4900’s energy efficiency enables users to save money, be more environmentally considerate and keep power consumption down.

The Epson Stylus Pro 4900 is priced at £2295 and will be available from November 2010.

Key Features Summary
• 11-colour UltraChrome HDR ink set
• Reliable Advanced-TFP print head
• Print speed of 46ml per hour
• High capacity front-loading cassette
• 200ml high capacity cartridges
• Optional inline SpectroProofer
• Automatic switching between cut sheet and roll paper
• Automatic switching between photo and matte black inks, which are pre-installed
• ENERGY STAR qualified
• Choice of paper paths – cassette, top and front manual board feed or roll
• Print on media up to 1.5mm thick

Press release – proofing version

Epson launches the Stylus Pro 4900 – a 17-inch production printer setting new standards in colour precision for the proofing market. Delivering the best print quality for pre-press, packaging and design, the printer boasts outstanding colour consistency and accurate colour matching, and can reproduce 98 percent of all PANTONE1 colours. Its high level of automation and robust mechanism make the Epson Stylus Pro 4900 a highly productive workhorse for any proofing environment.

Creating consistent, accurate proofs is easy with the Epson Stylus Pro 4900, thanks to one of the widest colour gamuts on the market. Epson’s 11-colour UltraChrome HDR inks and Advanced-TFP print head give a professional finish every time, and are identical to the inks and technologies used in Epson’s larger format production printers up to 44 inches.

Automating the production of remote proofs doesn’t mean a compromise in quality with the Epson Stylus Pro 4900’s automatic colour certification and calibration. The optional in-line SpectroProofer ensures consistent, repeatable colour accuracy when using different media, rapidly measuring control strips and colour charts when creating ICC profiles and print verification results.

The Epson Stylus Pro 4900 represents a big boost in productivity, with a production speed of 46m2/hour and minimal maintenance requirements. Its high capacity front-loading cassette makes inserting paper easy, and automated paper changing means no time is wasted switching between cut sheet and roll paper. The printer also switches automatically between photo and matte black inks, with both installed to avoid stopping the print run. All inks come in high capacity cartridges for less frequent changes and better value.

Martin Johns, market development manager for large format printers at Epson UK , says: “Offering outstanding flexibility to the proofing industry, the Epson Stylus Pro 4900 is compatible with a wide range of roll and cut sheet media up to 1.5mm thick, including a wide range of proofing media, presentation matte board, 330gsm Traditional Photo media, canvas and fine art paper. Users can select a paper path that best fits their needs from a choice of cassette, top and front manual board feed or roll.”

Qualified by ENERGY STAR, the Epson Stylus Pro 4900’s energy efficiency enables proofers to save money, be more environmentally considerate and keep power consumption down.

The Epson Stylus Pro 4900 is priced at £2295 and will be available from November 2010.

US Info

Our Next Generation.
It was only a matter of time before our engineers found a way to push ink jet technology to the next level. By incorporating the most advanced technologies Epson has to offer, this could possibly be the most advanced photographic printer ever developed.Introducing the New Epson Stylus Pro 4900

Designed to redefine the standard for photographic print quality, the Epson Stylus Pro 4900 incorporates our latest achievements in professional-level ink jet technology. By combining the precision of our MicroPiezo TFP print head with the extraordinary performance of Epson UltraChrome HDR Ink, our newest generation of Epson Stylus Pro printers continue to represent a level of technology unprecedented in Epson’s history.

Epson UltraChrome HDR represents the latest generation of pigment ink technology. Now utilizing ten colors – including an all-new Orange and Green – Epson UltraChrome HDR Ink produces the widest color gamut ever from an Epson Stylus Pro printer. Even more remarkable, when combined with our new Epson AccuPhoto HDR screening technology, Epson has once again raised the level of print quality, while setting a new benchmark standard for photographic reproduction.

Our advanced Epson MicroPiezo TFP print head is capable of producing higher quality prints, at speeds up to twice as fast as our previous generation. And, with our latest ink-repelling coating and auto nozzle verification technologies, clogged nozzles are virtually eliminated.

Handling virtually any media type, in both roll or cut-sheet up to 17-inch wide, the Epson Stylus Pro 4900 continues to set the standard for professional media use. And for the first time, you can have both the front paper tray and roll feeder loaded with different media types and automatically switch between them as you print.

In partnership with X-Rite, Epson has developed a high performance, in-line spectrophotometer for commercial proofing applications. When driven by the latest front-end RIPs, the SpectroProofer can automate virtually any color management process in your workflow, making the Epson Stylus Pro 4900 the perfect solution for the most demanding local and even remote proofing applications.

Whether you’re producing sellable color or black-and-white photography, fine art reproduction, or producing color accurate commercial and flexographic proofs for client approvals, never before have Creative Professionals had such powerful tools, allowing them to produce their vision without compromise.

Welcome to your next generation.

* Price is MSRP before any applicable rebate. Dealer prices may vary. All prices are in U.S. Dollars.

4880 specs FYI