Re: Levels & Curves

[Arthur Entlich <artistic@xxxxxxxxx>]

Well, I'm not sure that is completely fair, if that's the issue.  I am
well aware of the cyan ink problem with those printers, and specifically
with certain Epson papers, and I'd certainly suggest Epson as not
forthright about this for some time, and although I don't even own one
of these printers I took Epson to task about it via several phone calls
to people in there organization.

However, to suggest that anyone could have foreseen this problem is very
unfair.  In normal climatic conditions, these inks were light stable.
What appears to have happened is that ozone or chlorine radicals found
in highly polluted or some shoreline area (I never got a final
resolution reported to me) adversely affected the ability of the cyan
dyes (especially the light dye load cyan) to hold up.  How could anyone
have foreseen this?  Do you expect Wilhelm to subject his test prints to
every known pollutant before declaring the stability of the
dyes/pigments in his tests?  Perhaps a disclaimer would have been a good
idea in hindsight "these tests are based upon tests made in the Wilhelm
lab which is in such and such a location and your mileage may vary based
upon the level of manmade or naturally occurring pollutants your prints
are subjected to"??

He was testing for LIGHT damage to prints, not chemical damage.

If he categorically ruled out the experiences of those who were
experiencing fading, then he might be faulted (I don't know, maybe he
did), but I suspect removing the ozone/chlorine factor, his test were
probably accurate within the realm that any accelerated fading tests are
for the materials he was using.

I brought this fading issue to every retailer I knew who sold Epson
printers in my city (I know many of them personally) and I was informed
not one was returned and they received not one report of this phenomenon
here, and we live on an island and our principal city (of over one
million people) is right on the coast.  We have a very low ozone level
however, because of our winds and low industrial and car pollution rates.

Anyway, I don't fault anyone who demanded Epson refund their money for
the printer, inks or papers while they corrected this problem (anymore
than I would fault any Nikon scanner owner for demanding a refund as a
result of the banding problems or the poor depth of field) (and those
are things any reviewer should have made note of... but, I can't find
direct fault with Wilhem's research into accelerated fading just because
he didn't subject this prints to high ozone levels!

Maybe Epson should sell the ink paper combo as a test kit for ozone, and
anyone who gets orange prints within 24 hours should seriously consider
either moving to another location, or getting some mass transit put in,
or forcing politicians to get a move on about either hydrogen fuel cells
or electric cars ;-)

Art

Raphael Bustin wrote:

 > At 04:23 AM 12/27/01 -0800, Art wrote:
 >
 >
 > [re: Henry Wilhelm]
 >
 >> Why so harsh on the guy?
 >
 >
 >
 > Why not ask the folks who bought 870s and 1270s based
 > on Epson's print-life predictions, which were backed up
 > by "findings" from Mr. Wilhelm?
 >
 > And the sudden... er... "discovery" of the ozone effect
 > shortly after the hue and cry worked its way up to the
 > executive suite at Epson?
 >
 >
 > rafe b.
 >
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