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With inkjet printers, a horizontal banding may appear between the bands, which are the areas printed by one
scan. This symptom is called as banding.
The banding is caused mainly by setting the media advance compensation improperly. With the proper
compensation, the bands are linked without gap. However, with the larger compensation the bands are linked
with gaps, showing white lines, while with the smaller one the bands overlap, showing black lines.
The banding is also caused in the following cases.
- The ink dries so slowly.
- The media advance changes considerably depending on the print head scan.
A band of print
A band of print
A band of print
A band of print
Print head
Print head
A band of print
A band of print
Print head
Correct media advance
White banding at incorrect media advance
The bands’ gap
shows a white
banding.
The bands’ gap
shows a white
banding.
The bands’
overlap shows
a black banding.
The bands’
overlap shows
a black banding.
Black banding at incorrect media advance
The Smart Pass Technology is the function used to reduce this banding
problem.
With the Printer’s operation menu, “#SMART PASS” in MEDIA REG MENU
can be set to LOW, MEDIUM, and HIGH. Setting can also be made with
RIP data.
With Smart Pass Technology, the bands are printed overlapping even
when the media advance compensation is proper. The overlapping part
is processed with the OKI Data Infotech’s unique algorithm so that the
bands are not noticeable.
The Printer features three overlapping intensities (LOW, MEDIUM, HIGH).
Increasing the process intensity in the overlapping parts makes the banding less noticeable, but decreases
the print speed.
Increase the overlapping intensity to prioritize quality, and decrease the intensity to prioritize print speed.
First scan
Second scan
A band of print
Print head
Smart pass technology: ON
Smart pass technology
