Technical Features of Purple Laser CTP and Its Application in Newspaper Industry
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A new CTP technology, the violet laser CTP technology, was demonstrated at Durpa2000. At that time, people in the industry did not have a unified understanding of this new technology. However, the situation in Durpa2004 changed. At that time, almost all well-known manufacturers introduced the violet laser CTP platesetter and the corresponding plates. After several years of development, the violet laser CTP has become the three mainstream technologies of CTP together with the thermal CTP and CTcP.
First, Analysis of violet laser CTP technology
1. One of the most important components of the violet laser is the violet laser generator, which was first developed by Japan's Nichia, which is used to make high-capacity DVD discs. Since the wavelength of the violet laser is close to the wavelength of the conventional PS plate exposure, some manufacturers hope to transplant this technology into printing. The first to do this work was the introduction of the purple laser CTP's Agfa and Fuji on the Durpa2000. At present, the wavelength of the violet laser diode used in printing is mostly between 405 nm and 410 nm. Due to the short wavelength, the energy is relatively high, and the laser spot is also small. Since it is a cold light source, the stability is better. Therefore, it has many advantages over the thermal CTP.
1.1 Since violet light is used as the input light of the laser, and the violet light wavelength is short, only about 405 nm, a smaller mirror surface can be used to reflect the laser light, and a smaller laser head volume means a higher rotational speed. Therefore, the plate making speed is faster and the volume is smaller.
1.2 The violet laser was originally developed for civilian products, so the market is large and the price is very low.
1.3 If the spectrum is shorter, the laser spot is finer, and the finer the spot scanned on the plate is finer. The innate nature of the 405 nm violet laser is that the spot size can be controlled to 1 μm. The physical properties of the violet laser can guarantee the imaging quality of the violet laser CTP equipment. Together with the high-precision inner drum structure and the photopolymerized violet laser CTP plate, users can easily handle 300-line AM and 20μm FM screening. The plate making precision requirements fully meet the printing company's desire for plate quality improvement.
1.4 The actual plate making speed of the equipment in production is another major advantage of the violet laser CTP. The violet laser source is a laser that uses a 405 nm spectrum. In terms of the physical properties of light, the shorter the characteristic spectrum, the greater the energy of the light, so the purple light source has higher relative to other commonly used CTP light sources, such as green light (532 nm) and red light (830, 1064 nm). Imaging speed.
1.5 Because of the use of the photosensitive material corresponding to the purple light source, it can be used under a bright safety light, and it is very convenient to operate close to the bright room.
1.6 violet laser diodes are small in size, high in modularity, easy to repair and replace.
1.7 violet laser CTP does not work when it is not working (including booting but no exposure), and its structural characteristics make it last longer. Many platesetter manufacturers believe that their lifespan is longer than 10 years.
1.8 quality is stable. The performance of the internal drum model has a lot of room for improvement.
2. Another important technology of violet laser CTP is the plate.
2.1 The violet laser system has an open plate supply. Almost all major CTP producers produce, including several domestic companies, and the supply of plates is very secure. And it is foreseeable that the price of the plate will continue to drop.
2.2 violet laser CTP plate is a visible light series, which is divided into silver salt plate and photopolymer plate. The silver salt plate contains a silver halide layer, which is diffused to form a metallic silver image area. The layer is light sensitive and has a fast exposure. Only a 5 mW laser is sufficient. Its printing durability is about 350,000 impressions, no baking version. However, the developer contains harmful components and needs to be treated environmentally; the photopolymerization plate only has a photopolymer, and the waste liquid contains no harmful substances, and can reach 1 million impressions after baking. The original violet laser is only 5mW, and it can only be exposed to the silver salt CTP plate. Generally, the sensitivity of the photosensitive plate does not meet the requirements. Therefore, there is only a silver salt diffusion transfer version on the market. In 2001, when the plate-making machine used a 15mW violet laser, it was able to expose the high-sensitivity photopolymerization plate. In 2002, 30mW purple laser diode appeared and applied to CTP plate making system. At this time, the requirements for rapid plate making have been achieved. The corresponding varieties of violet laser CTP plate have also appeared diversified, not only silver salt CTP plate, high sensitivity 410nm photosensitive The version, and the medium-sensitivity photosensitive CTP version, is also beginning to adapt to the violet laser CTP plate making system. International plate manufacturers have started to launch their own violet laser CTP plates. After 2003. With the advent of 60mW, 100mW or even higher power lasers, more plates can be satisfied with the violet laser plate making system. The source energy of the next generation of violet laser source will reach 200mW or even higher, which provides a broad prospect for further improving the production efficiency of the violet laser CTP system.
2.3 The emergence of 3 free processing plates further strengthens the competitiveness of the violet laser CTP.
We know that when the laser head power reaches 150mW or more, it can achieve flush-free like thermal technology. This is another big impact on thermal CTP, because previously only thermal CTP can be flush-free. The process-free violet laser CTP plate has already been available on the market. The violet laser-free chemically-cleaned plate is an environmentally-friendly product that helps us achieve green printing. The amount of printing plate is very low and produces very little waste. It produces less than 1/20 of conventional film-making plates, 1/10 of conventional direct-to-plate plates, and saves developer costs.
Second, the characteristics of the purple laser CTP technology is very suitable for the needs of the newspaper industry
Because CTP technology is based on a fully digital workflow, prepress systems require a higher level of computer digital network platform. Therefore, its processing power and compatibility are very strong.
It has a reliable PDF workflow, full support for PostScript files, complete RIP and PDF workflow running on the network to support multiple file formats, output curve PDF, RIP PDF, RIP PostScript and 1-bitTIFF files Also supports CIP3/CIP4. Therefore, it is possible to achieve good safety, fast plate making speed, high production efficiency, good printing quality, and low production cost. These advantages are what business advertisers and newspaper users need. In fact, these two types of users are also the two core users of the violet laser. Many suppliers also believe that the purple laser CTP will be the only choice for the newspaper industry. In 2007, the CTP added by China's newspaper system was basically a purple laser device.
It is well known that the 405nm violet laser has a short wavelength and is a cold light source. The stability of the light source is better. The laser power suitable for photopolymerization of violet laser plate exposure imaging is only 30-60 mW, which is only a thousandth of the power of the thermal CTP laser. One. Therefore, compared to the high-power laser of thermal CTP, only one laser, the violet laser CTP will save the newspaper industry a very considerable laser replacement cost every year. The violet laser CTP equipment uses a mature and stable internal drum mechanical structure. Those skilled in the art of conventional plate-making equipment are aware that the stability and reliability of the internal drum mechanical structure has been verified in the production and application practice of the image-setting machine for more than a decade. The internal drum type mechanical structure avoids the unevenness of the flat screen caused by the card type, the flying plate and the spiral imaging which often occur in the external drum type thermal CTP, and further ensures the precision of the plate making imaging. The violet laser CTP brings a stable development environment and the lowest developer cost to the newspaper industry. The unique sand mesh structure and coating process of the violet laser photopolymerization plate greatly extend the life cycle of the developer. In all the processing solutions of CTP plates, the latitude of the liquid of the violet laser photopolymerization plate is undoubtedly the largest. At the same time, the process stability is greatly improved, and the labor intensity of the operator is greatly reduced.
As can be seen above, the violet laser CTP has a great advantage over thermal CTP in terms of printing cost, quality and efficiency. Moreover, it is also more scalable. The luminous power of the violet laser diode laser continues to hit new highs, and we can foresee that there will be more room for improvement in the plate-making speed and quality of the violet laser CTP device. The emergence of violet laser-free chemically-cleaned plates has also created opportunities for newspaper printers to implement green and environmentally friendly printing. As early as 2005, British consultant Andrew Tribute predicted that thermal CTP is losing its previous competitive advantage. In the newspaper industry, no benefit of using thermal CTP has been seen. The future of CTP technology belongs to the violet laser.