Thermal imaging CTP talk

As early as a few years ago, some knowledgeable people in the industry pointed out that the future is thermal imaging rather than light imaging. With a flick of a finger, we are about to enter the twenty-first century. Is the printing industry in the 21st century really the dynasty of thermal imaging? IPEX98, the world's major companies have displayed their own guardian skills, all kinds of thermal CTP system competing debut, from which we see a little bit, that is, thermal imaging is about to surface!
The emerging CTP technology of thermal imaging is a hot topic in the printing industry. The insider knows that the CTP classification is generally based on the printing plates supported by the CTP system, such as silver salt diffusion transfer type CTP, polymer type CTP, silver salt composite type CTP, and thermal type CTP. The principle of thermal-type CTP is to coat the ink receiving layer, PVA layer (or silicone) on a rough, smooth aluminum plate. At the time of plate making, the semiconductor laser diode is used to melt away the graphic part to reveal the underlying oleophilic layer and remove the residue on the plate to prepare for printing on the machine.
Recalling the "heat" of historical thermal CTP means that the printing plate image is formed by the heat of infrared rays instead of spectral imaging using the traditional method. Early thermal CTP plates were less sensitive to heat and required high-power infrared lasers for exposure, and CTP plates needed to be "preheated" before exposure. Chemical exposure was required after plate exposure. Obviously, the plate-making cycle of this thermal CTP plate is longer and the production efficiency is not high, especially the lower the resolution (the larger the dot), the more time or more laser power is needed to form the image. Obviously, its production efficiency could not keep pace with the fast-paced era. Businesses are aware of this problem and are working to solve it. In the near future, thermal CTP plates that do not require "preheating" and flushing are available. From the perspective of saving time, it has indeed shortened the plate making cycle, such as Presstek's Pearl model of CTP plates.
In recent years, the development of high-power infrared laser technology has made new developments and injected a dose of doping for thermal imaging technology. At the same time, the thermal sensitivity of thermal CTP plates has also improved considerably. IPEX98 finally ushered in the thermal imaging spring! In IPEX98, all major companies have their own thermal CTP system, allowing participants to feast on their eyes.
Heidelberg is a leader in this field. The company has reached cooperation agreements with Creo, Kodak, and Polychrome on thermal CTP plates, trying to win the competition in this field. Its products are 830nm thermal CTP system TrendSetter and 4 pages of 3230TrendSetter. High production efficiency. Almost all large companies exhibited the 830nm infrared laser thermal CTP system at IPEX98. Agfa introduced the Thermostar system, which can both heat the 830nm infrared laser, but also the 1064nm YAG laser heat. Purup-Eskofot displayed the MerlinCTP system; Japan's Screen launched an external drum PlateRite 8000 direct thermal plate-making machine with a total of 32 infrared laser heads, with various resolution options. With a resolution of 2400 dpi, 12 plates can be output in 1 hour. Fuji's new product is the PD9000, and the thermal plates are Brillia-LH-PI and LH-HI series products. The Scitex product is the Lotem800V direct plate-making system. These various thermal CTP systems are called "Hundred Flowers". It is expected that the major companies' competition for this market share will be fierce, and the biggest benefit for CTP users is the price reduction. For now, the CTP plate is 30%-70% more expensive than a plain plate. Therefore, the price reduction of merchants will play an important role in promoting the popularization of CTP.