Epson Introduces SureColor P5000 Professional 17-inch 10-Color Inkjet Printer

Epson Introduces SureColor P5000 Professional 17-inch 10-Color Inkjet Printer

January 13, 2017 ·

Mark Segal

I have had a lot of experience with Epson printers. For my photo printing, I started with an Epson P2000 back at the turn of the century. I then graduated through the 4000, 4800, 3800 then the 4900 printer. All of them except the 3800 had issues with clogging, but from the 4000 onward all of them also produced fine prints, quality excelling gradually over time till it reached a high level of maturity.

The Epson 4900 as many know makes truly great prints, but must be used very regularly to avoid wasting time and ink with head cleanings. Fortunately, once cleaned before the start of a print cycle, it would not re-clog during printing – my experience, but some others report otherwise. Then others again report quite trouble free operation because they use them continuously in high production environments.

This is what they were built for. I am still using my 4900 regularly, but come the SCP-5000, and I shall be very keen to see the advantages of upgrading, given the new inkset and improved printhead. Epson got the message on the maintenance issues and they tell us the new printhead coating will be a big improvement.

Time will tell, but for our forthcoming review once we get access to a printer, the main items of interest will be the impact on print quality of the new inkset and printhead, as well as any other under-the-hood changes to ink laydown algorithms and the like. I am given to understand that much else between the 4900 and the 5000 is very similar, but when the time comes we shall compare specs as well.

Introducing the P5000

The Details

Epson America has just announced the SureColor P5000 professional 17-inch 10-color inkjet printer. This new model features the latest Epson PrecisionCore^® TFP^® printhead and UltraChome HDX^® 10-color pigment ink set. According to Epson, the SureColor P5000 delivers outstanding output with an increased color gamut, higher-density blacks and twice the print permanence than the previous generation, presumably meaning the Epson SP4900 which the SCP5000 replaces. Epson also says that its refined printer design includes improved dust and static control for reduced maintenance and increased durability and reliability. According to Epson, the SureColor P5000 brings all of the SureColor printing technology into a 17-inch desktop model.

The printer uses 200 mL UltraChrome HDX 10-color ink cartridges utilizing newly developed core pigments, including new Orange and Green inks, as well as Black inks that Epson claims are 1.5 times denser than the previous generation, delivering a wider contrast ratio and improved resin encapsulation technology for superior gloss uniformity and optically clearer, sharper images. The PrecisionCore TFP printhead includes a new ink-repellant surface coating, along with improved dust and static control, intended to reduce nozzle clogging and maintenance, and supports printless nozzle checks.

The SureColor P5000 can support two different ink configurations. The SureColor P5000 Standard and Designer editions include Light Light Black ink for what Epson says will provide twice the overall print permanence, smooth and neutral tonal transitions and support of the Epson Advanced Black and White print mode. The Commercial Edition includes Violet ink, in place of Light Light Black, for an expanded color gamut, to deliver an industry-best 99 percent PANTONE^® PLUS FORMULA GUIDE solid-coated color matching³, ideal for commercial and flexographic proofing applications.

The SureColor P5000 offers versatile media handling capabilities with auto-switching between the high-capacity front paper cassette and roll media feeder. It includes a power-driven roll media spindle, ideal for producing panoramas and roll printing up to 100-feet, and an internal high-speed single pass rotary cutter. The high-capacity cassette can hold up to 100 sheets of premium paper for high productivity printing on sheets from 8”x10” up to 17”x22”. In addition, the SureColor P5000 has a front feed straight path for delicate fine art sheet media, including poster board, up to 1.5mm thick. Auto-switching between roll and cassette sheet feeding allow both sources to be loaded at the same time.

The printer accommodates four-sided borderless printing in widths, including 8”, 10”, 11”, 13”, 14”, 16”, 16.5”, and 17”.

As well, users may purchase the optional SpectroProofer^® UVS – Developed jointly with X-Rite, the in-line spectrophotometer provides automated color management and verification-related tasks for a range of proofing applications. It supports all current illumination standards for UV and UV-Cut measurement and is UV selectable between M0, M1 and M2.

Current Pricing, Availability, and Support, provided by Epson America:

The Epson SureColor P5000 is Available From B&H Photo – Purchasing from B&H Supports LuLa

Epson America advises that the Epson SureColor P5000 Standard and Commercial Editions are available now, and the Designer Edition will be available in March 2016, through Epson Authorized Professional Imaging Resellers. The Epson SureColor P5000 is supported by a standard Epson Preferred^SM Limited Warranty, a one-year program that includes toll-free advanced telephone access Monday through Friday and unit exchange service in the event of hardware failure. Optional Epson Preferred Plus Service Plans are also available, offering one or two additional years of protection. For additional information visit, www.proimaging.epson.com.

Luminous-Landscape intends to publish a review of this printer’s essential new features in due course.

Just to get the ball rolling on what this printer is all about, thought I would download the driver package and drill down to the profiles, which I extracted for analysis. I focused on the Legacy Baryta and Legacy Fibre profiles for now and ran through ColorThinkPro to have a look.

As you can see from the figures below, the gamut volumes, the Black-points and the neutrality of the White and Black points are all very healthy for these paper types.

Mark Segal
January 2017

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Mark Segal

See all articles by Mark Segal

Mark has been making photographs for the past six decades and started adopting a digital workflow in 1999 first with scanning film, then going fully digital in 2004. He has worked with a considerable range of software, equipment and techniques over the years, accumulated substantial experience as an author, educator and communicator in several fields and is a frequent contributor to the Luminous-Landscape website. Mark developed a particular interest in film scanning and authored the ebook “Scanning Workflows with SilverFast 8, SilverFast HDR, Adobe Photoshop Lightroom and Adobe Photoshop” available on the SilverFast website. In his “other life” (the one that pays for the photography), Mark is a retiree from the World Bank Group and now a consultant in electric power development.