At 10:47:30 on Fri, 7 Mar 2008 gecko opined:-

>Maybe there's an Alps group out there somewhere dedicated to keeping
>these abandoned marvels going and sharing information.
>
>How about it? Anyone know of one?

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Alps/
--
Thoss

At 11:24:48 on Mon, 10 Mar 2008 Arthur Entlich opined:-

>I haven't looked at the exact specifications for this printer, so my
>comments previously are generalized for most dye sub processes. I
>probably should have asked for a definitive answer as to if the dyesub
>or the microdot solid ink ribbons are being used, since the technology
>is different.

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.
--
Thoss

On Sun, 09 Mar 2008 19:24:19 +0100, Owen Ransen <willy@wonker.com>
wrote:

>On Sun, 09 Mar 2008 11:53:46 GMT, Arthur Entlich
><e-printer@mvps.org> wrote:
>
>>I'm afraid there are many incorrect statements and conclusions in your
>>friend's commentary and I'd like to clarify them.
>>
>>We do not see white as white because we know it is. Our eyes have a
>>chemical "color balancing" system which corrects for color temperature
>>up to a point. Our cones, which are responsible for our color vision
>>come in three versions, interestingly, sensitive to red, green and blue,
>>which are the primary colors of light.
>
>I'm afraid that is an incorrect statement. Light does not "have
>three primary colors", light is a continuum of frequencies from
>infra-red to ultra violet.
>
>Red green and blue receptors *evolved* to become the "primary" colors
>which our eyes use, but for color *two* primary colors would have
>been enough, (had an intelligent engineer been worried about
>efficiency). One at the red end and one at the blue end, and color
>could have been percieved as a linear mix of the two colors.
>
>This is a bit like our perception of heat. Color (more precisely
>"hue" can be specified by a single number) just as heat can be
>specified by a single number.
>
>Read "Vision and Art: The biology of seeing" by Margaret Livingstone
>to find out more about how we percieve with our eyes.
>
>
>
>
>Easy to use graphics effects:
>http://www.ransen.com/


Thanks Arthur & Owen!

Here is my friend's response:

I have to accept that I am a walking encyclopedia of outdated
scientific information and folklore.

I hope you have a way of thanking these guys for their thoughtful
responses. It kind of brings me up to date with my understanding of
scientific "facts." I was quoting gospel according to Eastman's color
scientists, overlooking how long ago that was. My deep immersion in
color photography took place in the 1960s --- which apparently places
my "knowledge" in close proximity with the flat-earth theory. But even
back then I never fully understood everything I knew. For instance,
how I could control the three primary colors with just magenta and
yellow (the second respondent refers to this). Or why a heavy orange
mask is required for color negatives. Or how to deal with the witch's
brew of chemicals that changed color characteristics daily whether
used or not. I still have what's left of my last 100-foot roll of 70mm
Ektacolor in my freezer, fully expecting some day to get back to it.

Incidentally, back then I built my color lab from parts scrounged from
junk yards, mostly from vending machines that brewed and dispensed
coffee. I found a treasure of stainless steel tanks, solenoid valves,
calrods, tubing, relays, thermostats, pumps. I devised a way to
maintain my chemicals within the required + / - 1/4 degree tolerance
by fooling the thermostat with water pumped directly on it from the
other end of the sink.

My old Alps is a dye sublimation printer with ribbons for primary
colors plus black. Now I understand a bit more about how it produces
such stunning photos. I didn't know it could modulate the amount of
dye it deposited. That didn't appear so from my examination of spent
ribbons, but maybe I didn't un spool enough.

I'm wondering now whether the Xerox Phaser color printer, which melts
solid inks much as the Alps does, is capable of similar high color
quality. My impression is that it sacrifices quality for speed.

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

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