| June 15, 2000 |
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| Digital Color Printer CAMEDIA P-400 |
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Prints 7.68 megapixels, 16.77 million color per pixel photo quality |
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A4 Size in about 90 Seconds |
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Professional Printing Quality Printer Arrives with Consumer Price Range |
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| * This news release is only for Japanese market. |
| Olympus Optical Co., Ltd. (President: Masatoshi Kishimoto) is pleased to introduce the digital color printer CAMEDIA P-400. It uses a dye-sublimation processing that is capable of producing photo quality printing at a maximum of 7.68 megapixels with 16.77 million colors per pixel on A4 size paper. The printer that coats the three-color layers with an overcoat layer on top gives prints excellent durability (light/moisture/heat/water resistance). It also provides print with smooth tones and natural images giving a professional quality. |
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Olympus has led the competition since 1996, achieving home printing without a PC with the CAMEDIA series and launching a dye-sublimation processing printer that produces photo quality on A6 size paper. Moreover, the appearance of a printer that uses the 3-megapixel digital camera picture quality represented by the recently launched CAMEDIA C-3030ZOOM has been eagerly awaited.
The CAMEDIA P-400 high-speed printing produces one A4 size sheet in approximately 90 seconds*. With the world's first built-in LCD monitor, it allows image checking and trimming using the printer unit only, bringing professional photo quality prints to home printing. In addition, the consumer range price that is extremely affordable compares to conventional A4-size dye-sublimation allows anyone to enjoy A4-size high-quality output.
With the launch of the C-800L, the first in the CAMEDIA series, Olympus have led the industry with a PC-less printing system, the so-called direct printing system. Using the direct printing system, the CAMEDIA P-400 is also equipped with a SmartMediaTM card and PCMCIA Type II compatible PC card slot to allow a range of printing options without using PC, with a 16 gradation monochrome liquid crystal (LCD) panel for image monitor. The print options include on-screen trimming and rotation of memory card images as well as album print, multi-print and index print.
In addition, the CAMEDIA P-400 is installed with a parallel port and a USB connector, so it may be used as a high-quality photo printer connected to a PC. |
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Printing time includes overcoat layer. Not including time for picture processing and data transferring. |
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| Main Features |
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| A4 Size, Photo Quality Dye-Sublimation Processing |
| The CAMEDIA P-400 uses the dye-sublimation processing, so it allows detailed color reproduction of 16.77 million colors per dot (256 YMC gradations per color per dot). Unlike printers that produce color in multiple dots such as the ink jet printer, the P-400 allows one pixel gradation for 1 dot, which is smaller than 300 dpi, the so-called maximum naked eye resolution. It is possible to produce up to 7.68 megapixels on one A4 sheet (2400 x 3200 pixels). Therefore, it can produce subtle color variations of half tones and gradations that have been impossible to achieve in the past except with a silver halide photograph. With the A4 size print, which has only been possible previously with commercial printers*1, you can experience the maximal photo quality prints even from the image of digital camera with 3 megapixels. |
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For a dye-sublimation processing printer |
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| Commercial Quality with Consumer Price Range |
| The printer using the conventional dye-sublimation processing to print A4 size photographs is extremely expensive and has only been used for commercial purposes. Olympus has made a priority of enabling home users to enjoy photo quality and has achieved the consumer price range by using innovative design for every aspect of the printer. Printing one sheet with high photo quality costs less than 200yen (for standard A4 size paper) that is same level as ink jet printers. |
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| High Speed Printing |
| Olympus developed the new 2400 dot thermal transfer head to achieve high-speed photo quality printing for the P-400. P-400 can print a photorealistic quality on A4 size sheet in about 90 seconds which is several times faster than that by a ink jet printer with reducing user's waiting time. |
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| Home Printing without PC |
Commonly with the other CAMEDIA digital color printers, the P-400 can print images directly from the SmartMediaTM card taken with the CAMEDIA series digital camera. It has a PCMCIA Type II compatible PC card slot, so you can use flash memory card as well as Compact FlashTM card, Memory StickTM card with the use of flash memory and a PC card adaptor. *
Further, it is also used with DPOF (Digital Print Order Format) which records digital camera printing information, so it is possible to select images, set the number of copies and set trimming using a digital camera. |
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Compatible only with data taken with a digital camera. |
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| World's First Built-in LCD Monitor |
| The CAMEDIA P-400 has a built-in LCD monochrome monitor, where you can see the image and change print layouts including multi-prints, album prints and index prints using only the printer unit without PC. Not only trimming images with checking it on the monitor screen, but also P-400 offers a range of print processing like sepia and monochrome filters, white frames, soft-focus backgrounds, "wood frame" backgrounds and photo accents. The printer itself can adjust the tones, sharpness, gamma, brightness and contrast of the images without using PC software. |
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| Paper Variety |
| The CAMEDIA P-400 is equipped with special paper and ink ribbon that allow it to combine photo quality color reproduction with high durability printing. With postcard and L-size card paper, non-white frame picture can be printed. |
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| Product name |
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Launch date |
| A4-size standard paper (25 sheets) |
P-A4N |
Mid-July |
| Postcard paper (25 sheets x 2 post cards) |
P-A4P |
Mid-July |
| L-size card paper (25 sheets x 4 L size) |
P-A4L |
Mid-July |
| A5-wide standard paper (25 sheets) |
P-A5N |
Mid-July |
| Ink ribbon pack (50 frames) |
P-RBN |
Mid-July |
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| Note: |
Postcard paper is an A4 sheet divided into two which is used by separating the sheets along the micro-cut after printing. Likewise, L size card paper is an A4 sheet divided into four. |
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| Improved PC Interface |
| The CAMEDIA P-400 can be connected to a PC. It is equipped with a parallel port, the regular PC printer connection terminal, as well as a USB connector, so it can be used with Windows 95/98/NT4.0/2000 and Macintosh OS8.6/OS9*. |
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The driver software for Windows 95/NT4.0 is not USB compatible. With Windows NT4.0/2000 you can print only from the local PC. For Macintosh only USB is supported. |
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*Olympus Optical Co., Ltd. was changed to OLYMPUS CORPORATION as of October 1, 2003.
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