Toshiba Debuts State-of-the-Art Full-Color Digital Copier/Printer - Product Announcement

Edge: Work-Group Computing Report, Jan 31, 2000

Toshiba has unveiled a revolutionary new full-color digital copier/printer with unprecedented speed and imaging capabilities.

Designed to meet the demands of Fortune 1000 companies and corporate environments requiring a high-quality connected, color copier, printer and scanner, Toshiba's FC22 is a complete color solution -- with full-color networked printing at 25 pages per minute (ppm) and copying at 22 copies per minute (cpm) -- featuring one of the highest print resolutions available in the industry today at 9600 x 600 dpi at an astonishingly low MSRP of $24,995.

The FC22 stands out in the field for its super-high quality imaging, high speed, competitive price and low cost per copy. One of the world's smallest laser color copiers, it is more compact than many of the current 6- to 12-ppm models on the market, yet it is two to four times as fast. Toshiba has filed 169 patents covering advanced, break-through technologies used in this innovative model, which is ideal for high-volume graphics professionals, desktop publishers, print-for-pay businesses and busy office environments.

"The FC22 is a state-of-the-art copier/printer that features a breakthrough in color printing technology developed by Toshiba's engineers," said Richard K. Taylor, Vice President and General Manager, Toshiba America Business Solutions, Electronic Imaging Division (TABS EID). "Its combination of speed, high-quality imaging and size set it apart from competitive products currently on the market. Toshiba's first entry into the digital connected color copier market has proven to be well worth the wait. Add all that to the FC22's very aggressive price-point and we think our dealers and end-users will be very excited about this model."

Single-Pass Color Printing System Toshiba's Color Inline Printing System is the technology responsible for the FC22's high speed and industry-leading first-copy out time. With the unit's Four-Drum Tandem Design, a color original can be scanned in a single pass to create all four color separations -- Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black (CMYK) -- instead of the four individual scans typically required by many other units. First-copy out time is an astonishing 10.3 seconds.

This system is built on Toshiba's patented four-beam laser technology. Unlike conventional four-drum tandem systems that use four laser units, Toshiba employs a four-beam laser unit with a single polygon mirror to print information on the four drums. This increases image stability and also contributes to smaller unit dimensions, lower power consumption and reduced operational noise.

Color For Professional Graphics The FC22's imaging clarity and vibrant colors make it a quality solution for graphics industry professionals. The unit's zoom range is 25 percent to 400 percent at one-percent intervals, enabling users to easily increase and reduce the size of their designs. Printing is done at an incredibly sharp 9600 x 600 dpi, with color performance of 256 gradations per pixel. Scanned images can provide even more gradations per pixel, 1024, thanks to the unit's 600 dpi, 10-bit scanner. Toshiba's patented imaging technology then transforms these images into finer, smoother 9600 x 600 dpi reproductions.

The FC22's Scalable Smoothing Technology can also control the line width of text to maintain superb image quality and assure razor sharp text. Toshiba's Image Quality Control, Screen Enhancement Technology, Map Mode imaging function, High Quality Halftone Processing and Advanced Image enhancement mode further improve resolution, sharpness, vibrancy of colors and clarity for text, graphics, line art and photo reproductions. Users can easily adjust the hue, saturation, color balance, RGB, sharpness and background of any original right from the copier.

When combined with the Electronics For Imaging, Inc. (NASDAQ: EFII), Fiery controller, the FC22 offers advanced color printing and color-matching functions that graphics professionals demand.

Paper handling is another of the FC22's strengths. The unit accepts up to 110-pound, index-size paper and can easily feed overhead projector (OHP) film from a standard cassette or bypass feeder to create color transparencies. The FC22 also can produce full 11 x 17-inch bleeds with zero image loss -- crucial in the graphics market, where artists' proofs must meet stringent requirements.

"The FC22 is a quality color imaging solution for graphic artists, ad agencies and people in the business of creativity," said Mark Mathews, Vice resident-Marketing, TABS EID. "Toshiba is setting a new standard with this innovative, connected solution."

Color Connectivity The Electronics For Imaging (EFI) Fiery controller enables network connectivity for the FC22, transforming the copier into a robust 25-ppm color network printer. The powerful external Fiery Z4 controller offers unprecedented price/performance and uses Adobe's PostScript 3, providing added quality to the FC22/Fiery solution with smooth shading, support for 136 fonts, and integration with Adobe PDF.