Using its new Lightbar RF-640 wide format printer, hi-rezz produced back-lit posters of tennis star Maria Sharapova promoting Evian for the 2015 Wimbledon Championships.
A division of Kinetic Worldwide and part of the global advertising and marketing group – WPP, hi-rezz specialises in print production and distribution for the OOH (Out Of Home) advertising industry, both in the UK and worldwide. Offering a comprehensive range of services, from initial creative through to final installation, hi-rezz delivers everything from interactive poster campaigns to 3D billboards.
In order to retain control over key projects and provide fast turnaround times for its clients, hi-rezz operates its own in-house wide format print facilities. Studio and print manager, Simon Powell, recently introduced the new Lightbar RF-640 printer to the business following research at a digital print exhibition and subsequent demonstrations.
Mr Powell explained, ‘We were looking to replace one of our older printers with a more efficient and cost effect way to print our 6 sheet (1200 mm x 1800 mm) and 4 sheet (1016 mm x 1524 mm) posters. We regularly print 100 m rolls of white or blue back paper non-stop and our old printer needed 36 hours to get through a full roll. Whereas, the new Lightbar system gets the same job done in less than half that time.’
The Lightbar RF-640 is a partner solution that combines the latest UV Light ink chemistry with the performance, quality and reliability of Roland DG print technology to produce output that’s instantly dry, immediately durable and ready to use the moment it leaves the printer. The inks are odour free and there is no need to allow any additional time for drying or out gassing
‘We’re always being asked to turn around jobs the same day. Now we can trim, roll and tube up posters straight from the printer without worrying about the ink smudging or scratching. If we get an urgent request for a dozen 6 sheet posters at lunchtime, with the Lightbar printer, we can have them printed, finished and shipped out a couple of hours later.’
Even though the old printer had a litre per colour bulk ink system, it could run out of one or more colours when printing a 100 m roll. However the new Lightbar printer, which is configured with dual CMYK ink sets, 8 x 440 ml cartridges in total.
‘The UV Light inks are producing far more metres of print. In fact, we’re only using around 440ml of each colour to print 100m of colour rich, back-lit posters. So, we can confidently leave the Lightbar printer to run through an entire 100m roll completely unattended.’
