We set out by asking ourselves what kind of printing performance was needed. (Hosokawa)
What prompted the development of L-COA in the first place?
- Hosokawa
- At the beginning of the project, we set out by asking ourselves what kind of printer we should create and what kind of printing performance was needed. These were decisions we couldn't make on our own, though, so we worked closely with other departments as we examined our options.
You were after the ultimate printer.
- Hosokawa
- That's right. We gathered information, collaborating with several other departments. After reviewing our options several times, before we knew it, we had collected a large stack of documents. This wealth of information guided us as we answered key questions. What did we need to make this ultimate printer a reality? That is, what functions did L-COA need to serve in the principal control role?
And these thoughts began shaping the direction for L-COA development.
- Hosokawa
- One thing that became clear was that we couldn't develop the technology applicable to our whole product line without in-depth knowledge of the entire series. To create the chip to be known as L-COA, we needed to take a close look at the overall state of this business, including market forecasts.
- Yoshida
- We also needed to consider how well our printers stand up to the competition. Canon is a relative latecomer to the large-format printer market. Products introduced late to the market have to demonstrate outstanding quality and performance to succeed. And by "outstanding," I don't mean just 20% or 30% better in one parameter. I'm talking about a dramatic performance advantage, several times better than current models. We can refine existing technology to achieve gains of 30%, but for performance on the order of several times conventional models, existing technology and conventional approaches won't work. That's why we started from scratch. We reevaluated our approach to printer development.
- Hosokawa
- Performance gains in this product category are on a different scale than in other categories. For example, it would be unrealistic to try to develop cars that offer four times the performance of other models. But for printers, improvement entails performance gains of two to four times better than other models in all specifications. So we were up against ourselves - we were trying to surpass our own previous printers. Surpassing one's past achievements means reevaluating former products and everything created within the framework of former technology. We had to begin by disavowing past accomplishments.
To outperform conventional models, L-COA provides optimal control of the 12-color ink system, supporting more data for fuller gradations and double the nozzle density. Achieves image processing capacity approximately 5 times greater than precious models.
For a manufacturer, did this decision take a lot of courage?
- Yoshida
- It was more a matter of necessity. This was the only way. (laughs)
I see. How did you apply this fundamental reevaluation to L-COA development?
- Yoshida
- The need for a new chip in the form of L-COA was itself the conclusion of the fundamental reevaluation. The new imagePROGRAF has four times the number of nozzles of conventional printers. This means processing has to increase more than four-fold to control the nozzles. But this isn't a simple matter of making four circuits where there used to be one. That would involve more than four times the circuitry, which would lower processing speed and render such development pointless. This understanding certainly underlies the broad revisions we implemented from the architecture design stage. We changed our way of thinking, and then changed how we build printers.
