OK, I have some backpedaling to do then...

I just did some research on this model and it does NOT accept the dye
sublimation cartridges, only the microdot pigment and resin/wax types.

Therefore, I have to revamp my comments.

This printer does use dithering to create it's colors. The company
claims it's drivers use a 24 bit color depth, meaning that in principal
each color (cyan, magenta and yellow) create the illusion of 256 color
levels each. They do this by using different patterns/screens of color
dots versus white paper showing through. In theory, this should create
16.8 million colors.

This cartridge pack uses a black ribbon as well.

The dye sub ribbon pack (used on the 1300, 2300 and 5000 with optional
adapter) uses a 3 color pack (CMY) plus clear coat, to protect and to
lessen fading from UV light.

The reviews claim the image quality was "better than some inkjet
printers", but that was a few years back and I'm, not sure that will
still hold true with inkjet printers which have up to 12 color inks and
very tight resolutions up to 6000 dpi. Inkjet printer do require
specially coated papers to hold dot gain (bleeding) down so if they
compared the two using regular bond paper, then the ALPS would
definitely look better in most cases.

The advantage to the microdot ALPS system is: the colorants are pure
pigment with an adhesive resin. They are waterproof. They can be
printed onto almost any paper surface. They can be transferred to other
products using a heat press and special transfer papers. The "ink"
doesn't bleed at all meaning a very small and sharp dot. And since the
ALPS is using a dry solid ink, it can use white, gold, foils, etc and
print onto clear decal materials with opaque ink.

I believe the company is out of business, so one is reliant on 3rd party
ribbons and service and parts may be somewhat of a problem. Also, they
had a problem with banding. I remember reading the fix was to gently
heat the print with a hair dryer to remove the bands.

Art


gecko wrote:

> On Mon, 10 Mar 2008 12:23:27 +0000, thoss <usenet@amolad.org.uk>
> wrote:
>
>
>>Not all Alps MDs can do dye-sub, so it depends which model he has. The
>>MD 1300 has it by default, on the MD 5000 it's an extra. I don't think
>>any other model (other than Oki's re-badged version of the 5000) is dye-
>>sub capable.
>
>
>
> My friend said his is the MD 4000.
>
> -Gecko