Analyze the technical features and development status of UV-CTP platemaking system

UV-CTP technology refers to a CTP technology that uses a UV lamp or a UV laser to perform computer-to-plate making on a conventional PS plate. It is also referred to as CTcP technology.

At present, the UV-CTP plate-making machine of Punsh Graphix Company has already developed to the fifth generation, the imaging quality and plate-making speed are obviously improved, and the running stability is good. According to sales personnel of Shanghai Saitu Printing Equipment Co., Ltd., the Chinese general agent of Bascprint's CTcP plate-making machine, the total installed capacity of UV-CTP platesetters in the world reached 1,500 units in 2006.

With the increase of the light source power of the plate-making machine, the application of the new generation of DSI2 digital screening technology, and the continuous introduction of high-sensitivity plates by many world-renowned media manufacturers, the application of UV-CTP technology has been rapidly developed. Currently, UV-CTP Platemaking machines have accounted for about 6% of the total CTP platesetters in the world.

UV-CTP Technology Introduction

1, UV-CTP technology features

(1) The use of digital plate-making process, eliminating the need for output film and other links, reducing the loss of text and information transmission.

(2) Using square dots to improve resolution, compress output files, shorten RIP processing time and data transfer time, and increase plate-making efficiency.

(3) The plate making operation (yellow safety light) can be performed in the bright room.

(4) The use of regular PS plates and kits, the price is low, the overall cost is lower than the conventional CTP.

(5) The laser head of the plate making machine has a long life (about 3000 hours), the price is relatively low (about 10,000 yuan), and the maintenance cost is low.

(6)Complete equipment models, can use automatic, semi-automatic or manual edition.

2. Development Trend of UV-CTP Technology

In recent years, the introduction of 365nm and 375nm semiconductor UV lasers has brought new dawn to UV-CTP. UV-CTP systems using violet laser light sources will quickly dominate the market and achieve good economic benefits.

The future UV-CTP technology will present the following advantages:

(1) faster plate making;

(2) Higher accuracy;

(3) Better compatibility with traditional media.

It can be predicted that along with the development of semiconductor UV laser technology and the high sensitivity of the plate, UV-CTP will be the product of the combination of violet laser CTP and UV-CTP.

UV-CTP plate making equipment

UV-CTP platesetters can be classified into ultraviolet UV-CTP and UV laser UV-CTP depending on the light source used. The former include the UV-Setter series platesetter from Punch Graphix, and the latter is the XPose UV-Setter platesetter from Luscher.

The earliest UV-UV-CTP, CTcP platesetters appeared at Drupa 1995, and Purop-Eskofot, basysPrint and Esko-Graphics launched the violet laser/laser platesetter prototypes.

Especially after 2000, Basys Print Company commercialized it and launched four series of plate-making machines, such as UV-Setter 5, 6, 7, and 11, which added vitality to the CTP market and attracted many small and medium-sized printing companies. In 2004, Punch Graphix acquired basysPrint and renamed CTcP technology as UV-CTP technology. By 2006, there were at least 1,500 UV-CTP platesetters installed in the world and 70 in mainland China, mainly in Guangdong (Dongguan, Shenzhen), Zhejiang, Shanxi, and Northeast China.

In recent years, with the successive launch of 355nm, 365nm and 375nm UV laser diodes by Photonics and Power Technology, the laser power has gradually increased and the requirements for plate material sensitivity have been reduced. This has brought greater development to the application of UV-CTP technology. space. Among them, the power of the 375nm UV laser diode introduced by Nichia Chemical has reached 800mW, and the corresponding CTP users are already being developed. At the Shanghai All-In Print Exhibition in 2006, Luscher of Switzerland displayed the new XPesoe UV-CTP plate-making machine. The 405-nm UV laser was used. The plate-making speed reached 20 sheets/hour. Hong Kong Yongjingtang Company purchased this during the exhibition. Plate making machine.

Currently, Luscher has introduced three types of UV laser UV-CTP platesetters, LuscherXpose 130UV, 160UV, and 190UV, and began selling them worldwide. By April 2007, more than 20 units had been sold. It adopts 405nm laser light source, which is close to the photosensitive peak of the conventional PS plate. PS plate can be used for direct plate making.

In June 2007, Longma Aluminium Group held a press conference on “CTdP System” in Beijing. Luscher provided UV-CTP platesetters (XPose 75, 130, 160, 180, and 190). Longma Group produced Longma-CTdP. The combination of the two will make printing digital from "noble" to "civilian" and will have a positive impact on the application of UV-CTP technology in China.

The rapid development of UV-CTP platesetters is determined by their technological advancement.

UV-CTP plate making principle

1. BasysPrint UV-Setter platemaking machine imaging principle

BasysPrint's UV-Setter platemaking machine uses Texas Instruments' digital grating processing technology (DLP, DLP2) to develop digital screening imaging technology (DSI, DSI2) using a UV light source (high pressure mercury lamp, 350 to 420 nm) directly Exposure to traditional PS plates.

The core part of the platesetter, the microscope (DMD), is a 4 cm2 wafer with tens of thousands of supermicro lenses on it. Each supermicro lens will process the image information from the RIP before exposure. The working principle is to emit ultraviolet light from a UV light source, and the exposure data is modulated into an ultraviolet light signal by DSI, then focused on the DMD, and the desired light is refracted and passed through the optical lens to the surface of the plate to perform accurate exposure imaging; Unwanted light is deflected by a digital microscope and cannot pass through the optical lens to the surface of the plate.

At present, with the application of DSI2 technology, the increase of light source power, the use of continuous scanning, and the improvement of plate material sensitivity, the plate-making speed of the UV-Setter plate-making machine is further increased, reaching 25-30 sheets/hour.

2.Luscher Xpose series UV-CTP imaging principle

The plate-making machine of this series adopts 405nmUV laser light source and exposes the traditional PS plate. FM, amplitude modulation and hybrid screening can be applied. The imaging speed can be equivalent to Xpose thermal plate.

The biggest advantage of this system is that it is possible to convert UV lasers and thermal lasers (830 nm) simply by replacing the laser head.

Luscher Xpose series UV-CTP platesetter is improved from its XposeCTP. It adopts a unique laser group and inner drum design. The optical parts are close to the plates to ensure maximum energy transfer efficiency and exposure accuracy. According to Lars Janneryd, Lushcer's vice president, the Xpose130 UV platesetter can achieve a plate exposure of 1000mm x 700mm in 2 minutes, with a production capacity of 20 sheets per hour. The Xpose160UV and 190UV platesetters use a two-plate exposure structure that doubles the platemaking capability.

Problems faced by UV-CTP technology

1. The promotion and application of UV-CTP technology will be subject to certain resistance

BasysPrint, the owner of CTcP technology, has applied for the CTcP registered trademark in order to highlight its own characteristics (using the traditional PS version), which is bound to cause its own uniqueness, and its promotional power is slightly insufficient, and Kodak, Fujifilm, Agfa The reasons for such giants in the industry, such as inappropriate intervention or unwillingness to intervene, have seriously affected the promotion of UV-CTP technology. CTdP, which was jointly launched by China's Longma Aluminum Group and Luscher, faces the same problem.

For any new platemaking technology, only competition can develop, can it have its commercial value and greater profits. This point can also be proved from the failure of the promotion of the anhydrous CTP version launched by Toray in Japan several years ago, because no other major company participated in the competition and eventually failed to become a “flash in the pan”; the thermal ablation CTP was launched by Presstek, Also failed to promote the application in the industry.

2. UV-CTP platesetter faces price pressure

At present, the price of UV-CTP plate-making equipment is still relatively high. This situation is similar to the case of high prices of CTP plates. On the one hand, the manufacturer must allocate the development costs of the previous period to the products; on the other hand, with the market demand, there will be more equipment suppliers to join the ranks of the competition. The final result is that the prices of the plate machines will be further reduced to reach With the CTP platesetter price levels.