Case Study Document

Reliability Comparison Report Genuine Ink and Refill ink Comparison
By Allion Japan Inc August 2007

1. Foreword

Today, the industry has made great progress by providing high quality photo prints. End users expect that the prints result can last without serious change on color appearances. Manufacturers of printers, inks and papers have felt the need to improve the longevity and stability of photo prints. As for the Image permanence objectives targeted by ink makers, some test results on lightfastness, ozone resistance test performed by third-party laboratories have been published in the past years, however, only few publications reported on gas resistance test with the combination of ozone (O3), nitrogen oxide (NOx), and sulfur oxide gases (which are atmospheric gases in our environment) to simulate the fading of photo prints. In order to perform such test in a more realistic environment, Allion has performed a gas resistance comparison test with the combination of 3 gases to compare color fading of photos inkjet-printed by using printer manufacturers' genuine ink and other manufacturers' refill ink. The following is a summary of the mixed-gas resistance test performed on prints printed with manufacturers genuine ink and third-partys refill ink.
Mixed-gas test Ozone (O3), nitrous oxides (NOx) and sulfur oxides (SOx) are existed in our atmosphere. Those have been reported to have caused color fading of photos. By performing accelerated gas resistance test using mixed gases at a measured ratio similar to indoor air composition, it becomes possible to reproduce inkjet print photos fading in indoor environment. Using accelerated test procedures to perform gas resistance test with a combination of various gases existing in our living environment is called mixed-gas test.
Test results provided by Allion Japan Inc.

2. Test Summary

The below results were obtained after performing an accelerated mixed-gas resistance test using samples printed by a random pick of popular models of printers in the market today. We will follow the saying Fading is in the eye of the beholder and let you judge of the results.
Test Result 1: Gas resistance comparison using sample images printed by Canon PIXUS iP7500 printer When using the genuine ink of the Canon PIXUS iP7500 printer

Original Print

1 year later (72hours)
5 years later (360 hours)
When using refill ink with the Canon PIXUS iP7500
Refill ink of manufacturer I
Refill ink of manufacturer J
Refill ink of manufacturer K
Refill ink of manufacturer
Test Result 2: Gas resistance comparison using sample images printed by EPSON PM-A890 printer When using the genuine ink of the EPSON PM-A890 printer
When using refill ink with the EPSON PM-A890 printer

1 year later(72hours)

3. Test Method
Test Environment: 1) Test Image: "N1A.tif" a standard image of The Institute of Image Electronics Engineers of Japan 2) Printers and Papers: We used Canon PIXUS iP7500 and EPSON PM-A890 printer as well as papers sold in the market. Each printer and papers were combined with different manufacturer's ink. 3) Test Equipment: Suga Test Instrument Co., Ltd.'s "DS-UV" as Gas corrosion test equipment Test Condition: 1) Gas Concentration: O3 (Ozone)150ppb

NO2 ( nitrous oxides)900ppb SO2 (sulfur oxides)50ppb
2) 3) Temperature24 Humidity60%RH
Duration of the test: 72 hours (equivalent to 1 year), 360 hours (equivalent to 5 years) An acceleration test of 72 hours results in aging equivalent to one year, and 360 hours to 5 years.
References 1. Yojiro Kojima, Takayuki Ishikawa, Hiroyuki Ogino, and Takao Yamamoto A Study on Digital Photo Image permanency 1 Environment Factors and Color Fading. Proceedings of Japan Hardcopy 2004 The Annual Conference of the Imaging Society of Japan, pp.73 Tokyo Japan (2004)
Hiroyuki Ogino, Yojiro Kojima, and Takao Yamamoto, A Study on Digital Photo Image Permanency 2 Gas Fading Acceleration by Mixed Gas. Proceedings of Japan Hardcopy 2004 The Annual Conference of the Imaging Society of Japan, pp.77 Tokyo Japan (2004).
Notice concerning this report Allion published this report in order to introduce its product benchmark services and approved the truthfulness as well as fairness of the test results.
Copyright by Allion The Copyright of this report belongs to Allion Test Labs and permission should be obtained from Allion Test Labs prior to any prohibited reproduction, quotation.
Judgment or opinion concerning the results of this test is left to the convenience of the reader and Allion Test Labs do not bear any responsibility in case of secondary damage occurred by using this report.
For comment or question, please contact: Allion Japan Inc. 8F, 1-24-2, Higashi-Gotanda, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo, Japan 141-0022 Tel : +81-3-5488-7368 Fax: +81-3-5488-7369
E-mail: sales@allion.co.jp Website: http://www.allion.com Website (Japan): http://www.allion.co.jp

EPSON CD/DVD Label Direct-Printable Printer Information February, 2009 FY Product Name of each area <A> EAI Latin N/A N/A N/A N/A Epson Stylus Photo 960 N/A N/A N/A Epson Stylus Photo 900 Epson Stylus Photo 900 N/A N/A Epson Stylus Photo R800 N/A N/A Epson Stylus Photo R300 Epson Stylus Photo R300M Epson Stylus Photo R200 Epson Stylus Photo R200 N/A N/A Epson Stylus Photo R1800 N/A N/A Epson Stylus Photo R320 Epson Stylus Photo R320 N/A Epson Stylus Photo RX700 N/A N/A N/A N/A Epson Stylus Photo R220 Epson Stylus Photo R220 Epson Stylus Photo R340 Epson Stylus Photo R340 <E> Euro Pacific/Asia N/A N/A N/A Epson Stylus Photo 2100 Epson Stylus Photo 950 N/A N/A N/A Epson Stylus Photo 900 Epson Stylus Photo 900 N/A N/A Epson Stylus Photo R800 Epson Stylus Photo R800 N/A Epson Stylus Photo R300 Epson Stylus Photo R310 Epson Stylus Photo R200 Epson Stylus Photo R210 N/A N/A Epson Stylus Photo R1800 Epson Stylus Photo R1800 N/A Epson Stylus Photo R320 N/A N/A Epson Stylus Photo RX700 Epson Stylus Photo RX700 N/A N/A N/A Epson Stylus Photo R220 Epson Stylus Photo R230 Epson Stylus Photo R340 Epson Stylus Photo R350 Disc Center x/y Position (physical) PM-900C/Opt 141/139 PM-920C 141/139 PM-890C 141/139 PM-4000PX 75/67.5 PM-950C 75/67.5 <J> Japan PM-970C PM-980C PM-870C PM-930C PM-940C PX-G900 PM-G800 PM-D750 PM-G700 PM-D1000 PX-G920 PX-G5000 PM-G720 PM-D770 PM-G820 PM-A900 PX-G930 PM-A950 PX-G5100 PM-G730 PM-D800 75/67.5 75/67.5 141/139 75/67.5 75/67.5 75/67.5 75/67.5 75/67.5 75/67.5 75/67.5 75/67.5 75/67.5 75/67.5 75/67.5 75/67.5 75/67.5 75/67.5 75/67.5 75/67.5 75/67.5 75/67.5 Tray Type Type1 Type1 Type1 Type2 Type2 Type2 Type2 Type1 Type2 Type2 Type2 Type2 Type2 Type2 Type2 Type2 Type2 Type2 Type2 Type2 Type2 Type2 Type2 Type2 Type2 Type2

05 N/A 08 08

Epson Stylus Photo RX640 Epson Stylus Photo RX650 Epson Stylus Photo 1400 Epson Stylus Photo 1400 Epson Stylus Photo 1410 Epson Stylus Photo 1410 N/A N/A Epson Stylus Photo 1390 Epson Stylus Photo R380 Epson Stylus Photo R360 N/A Epson Stylus Photo R390 N/A N/A N/A N/A Epson Stylus Photo R260 Epson Stylus Photo R265 Epson Stylus Photo R270 Epson Stylus Photo R270 Epson Stylus Photo RX580 Epson Stylus Photo RX560 Epson Stylus Photo RX590 Epson Stylus Photo RX590 N/A N/A Epson Stylus Photo R2880 Epson Stylus Photo R2880 N/A Epson Stylus Photo R2880 Epson Stylus Photo R1900 Epson Stylus Photo R1900 N/A Epson Stylus Photo R1900 Epson Stylus Photo RX680 Epson Stylus Photo RX685 N/A Epson Stylus Photo RX690 Epson Stylus Photo RX595 Epson Stylus Photo RX585 Epson Stylus Photo RX610 Epson Stylus Photo RX610 Epson Stylus Photo R280 Epson Stylus Photo R285 Epson Stylus Photo R290 Epson Stylus Photo R290 N/A N/A Artisan 700 Epson Stylus Photo PX700W Epson Stylus Photo TX700W Epson Stylus Photo N/A N/A Epson Stylus Photo Artisan 800 N/A PX800FW Epson Stylus Photo N/A N/A
PM-A890 PM-G4500 N/A PM-D870 PM-A970 PM-T990 PM-G850 PM-A820 PM-A920 PX-5600 PX-G5300 PM-A940 PM-A840 PM-G860 PM-T960 EP-801A PM-A840S EP901A/901F EP-301
75/67.5 75/67.5 75/67.5 75/67.5 75/67.5 75/67.5 75/67.5 75/67.5 75/67.5 75/67.5 75/67.5 75/67.5 75/67.5 75/67.5 75/67.5 75/67.5 75/67.5 75/67.5 75/67.5
Type2 Type2 Type2 Type2 Type2 Type2 Type2 Type2 Type2 Type2 Type2 Type2 Type2 Type2 Type2 Type2 Type2 Type2 Type2
* = Type 1 Tray Type was supported by older models. Newer printers support Type2 Tray Type