Fuji ships Sumo film imager: who needs CTP?(Product Announcement)

Multibeam laser system cuts costs

Last year at Ipex, FujiFilm Electronic Imaging (FFEI) introduced its new high-speed Sumo imagesetter. (The official name is the Fuji Luxel F-9000, but in the UK, U.S. and Canada, it is called Sumo.)

At the time of launch, we wondered about the market for such a product, since the commercial print market appears to be moving to CTP. Now that the product is being delivered to its first customers, we thought it was time to look once again at it.

Speed. Sumo is without doubt the fastest commercial imagesetter in the market. It is an eight-up, internal-drum device. Technically, it offers a B1-plus format with a maximum media size of 1,130x930mm (44.1x36.6 inches) and a maximum imaging area of 1,122x930mm (43.8x36.6 inches). The speed in number of eight-up flats per hour at 1,219 dpi is as high as 58 (finished, eight-up film flats per hour from the film processor).

At a resolution of 2,438 dpi, the speed drops to 38 flats per hour. (Sumo offers four resolutions: 1,219, 1,828, 2,438 and 3,657 dpi.)

In comparison, the fastest throughput in the CTP field is the Creo Trendsetter 3244XAI, which is rated at 16 plates per hour. Such …