4800 grain versus 4000 problem

[Zachary_Goulko]

I just upgraded from the 4000 to a 4800, and the first thing i noticed is that the 4800 exhibits dot structure much more compared to the 4000 which was pretty much invisible to my eye. It is especially noticable in smooth transitions or solid colors. I have tried printing both with the Epson driver and Imageprint in 1440 and 2880 modes. Has anyone else noticed this or do I have a bad printer?

[NillToulme]

That sounds very unusual, never heard of anything like it. They usually come pretty well aligned from the factory, but have you tried running an alignment on it?

Nill
~~
www.toulme.net

[Zachary_Goulko]

Yes, I ran the entire 10 page alignment process. It seems almost like the droplet size is larger on the 4800 which I know is not the case. The dot sctructure is clearly visible on the 4800 prints as opposed to the 4000.

[MichaelMoenning]

There is definitely a problem with your printer. I have the 4000 and 4800 running next to one another and there is an indistinguishable difference in the images. You should contact Epson support right away and get that unit repaired or replaced. Let me clarify further, you should definitely NOT see a difference between the output unless you are printing on high gloss or matte. In any case you should not see a difference in droplet size. Epson has been fairly responsive to the minor troubles I have had in the past, so get a trouble ticket started with Epson support right away.

Mike

[Zachary_Goulko]

Ok, Maybe I am being a bit of a knitpicker, BUT. Here is a scanned sample image of the 4800 and 4000 print at 100%, as well as the original file. I noticed that the 4000 creates softer images and at the same time has more of a continous tone look to it. The 4800 exhibits this grain look, which is visible to my eye, but has sharper detail. Is this perhaps the function of the new 4800 and the new K3 inks? Does this print look normal, or is there too much grain? Thanks in advance.

PS, Both images were printed with Imageprint and their profiles.

[NillToulme]

I don't see anything remotely like that in my prints, but I'm not using a loupe. How much magnification do those images represent? And is that a fair representation of what you see in the print with the naked eye?

Nill
~~
www.toulme.net

[AlanRew]

[ QUOTE ]
I just upgraded from the 4000 to a 4800, and the first thing i noticed is that the 4800 exhibits dot structure much more compared to the 4000 which was pretty much invisible to my eye. It is especially noticable in smooth transitions or solid colors. I have tried printing both with the Epson driver and Imageprint in 1440 and 2880 modes. Has anyone else noticed this or do I have a bad printer?

[/ QUOTE ]

Although I don't have the same K3 printer as yourself (I use a 2400) I have sometimes had a nasty shock with the Epson driver when using 'Best Photo' with matte papers such as Velvet Fine Art that also support 'Photo RPM' - the screening looks a lot coarser compared to my old 2100/2200. It's probably using 1440 dpi in this case, instead of the 2880 I'm more used to.

Do you know how many dots per inch are being used by ImagePrint for the 2 prints you show in your screen shots?

What type of paper is this, e.g. is it matte or glossy media?

Regards,

Alan