Durst, a manufacturer of industrial digital printing equipment, has announced the launch of the new Tau 330 at the upcoming drupa 2012 (Hall 6, Booth C60) where the new press will be showcased first time.

The new Tau 330 features a print width of 330 mm and a printing speed of a maximum 48 linear meters (157 lin. Ft) per minute, reaching thereby an hourly production capacity of 950 m². Its standard color configuration CMYK can be completed with optional White and two optional process colors Orange and Violet (available in late 2012), essential for label applications that require precise pantone color matching. Furthermore, the standard configuration also includes industry-leading RIP software with built-in substrate management and color management.

Tau 330 is available in two print widths: Tau 330 with print widths up to 330 mm and the more economic version, the Tau 330/200 with print widths up to 200 mm.

Durst says the “Best in class” image quality is achieved thanks to the company’s proprietary Single Pass UV Inkjet Technology, featuring Xaar 1001 print heads with a physical printing resolution of 720×360 dpi with drop on demand, variable drop size and grayscale technology that results in an apparent image resolution of over 1,000 dpi.

Also on display will be the high speed Tau 330 Variable Data Print option with “insetter” functionality to print on pre-diecut or pre-printed labels, thus allowing full label-to-label variability as well as “late stage versioning” applications at highest printing speeds of the Tau press.

Another important feature are Durst’s durable UV inks, especially important for label converters who often need to supply product identification labels as UL / cUL recognized components for labelling of consumer electronic equipment, cellular communication equipment, gardening equipment and power tools, where in all cases the label identification system must be durable for the lifetime of the product. The Durst Tau UV inks and 3M media combinations jointly carry PGJI2 recognition simplifying the UL recognition for converters who currently need to maintain their own ink registrations with UL for many of the traditional press ink applications. An in-line corona unit is available for on-board surface treatment of substrates to optimize print quality and ink adhesion.

Durst’s CEO, Richard Piock, comments: “Beside our well recognized white ink with very high opacity and the two additional process colors for high pantone color coverage, the new Tau 330 with its greatly expanded print width offers very high size flexibility and at the same time an industry-leading production capacity, two additional and important features which will be source of competitive advantage for our future customers.”