Digital BW, The Print

Ginny,

You wrote, in part:
 
> ... I have decided to upgrade my B&W printing to a 2400...
> I wonder if you would compare the B&W print quality on the 2400 with
> the stock Epson inks vs. 3rd party. If 3rd party (MIS?) would be a
> significant upgrade, I'm wondering what set you recommend? ...

There is no dedicated B&W inkset for the 2400 that I'm aware of.  I may get
to it later, but my current project is aimed at taking cheaper printers up
to and beyond what the 2400 can do.  (Providing competition to the big guys
and pushing the envelope is what I like to do.)

The 2400 is an excellent printer right out of the box.  MIS has a 2400 color
inkset (MIS "K4") that is, of course, much cheaper than the Epson k3 inks if
bulk inks are used.  However, I don't think I would consider it
significantly better.  I have not done a head to head test of the Epson k3
and MIS k4 inksets. 

My tests that give the MIS inks an edge are with the B&W inksets.  There the
reasons appear to be mostly that they use fewer color inks (and no magenta
or yellow), and the carbon is mixed with the colors.  That way when the
colors fade, the carbon is still underneath them to provide the density (but
not the color).  That is, the blended, dedicated B&W inks, according to my
last test, tend to shift color just like the 2400 ABW mode inks (when MIS
inks are used in both), but the density does not drop as much.  

In other tests with Epson UC k2 inks in a blended B&W mix identical to the
MIS inks, the MIS inks did better if the prints were not sprayed, but they
were the same when the prints had Premier Art Print Shield on them.  This
suggests the MIS inks' binder acts as a coating in and of itself, whereas
the Epson base does not have a binder, relying on the acrylic coatings to
hold the inks to the paper.

I generally don't test the color inksets.  However, in individual ink tests
I do to determine what inks I'll use in my mixes, the k3 M did better than
the MIS k4 M.  I won't use either, however, because the MIS R800 Blue stays
in suspension in my tests and mixes better than either of the magentas.

So, bottom line, I can't say one color inkset is better than the other.

Paul
www.PaulRoark.com