Colour gamut at L:50 (mid-brightness)
In all the plotted results that follow, the printer tested is represented by the white boundary, while the reference area represents sRGB colour space, bounded in black.
Epson Stylus Photo 2100/2200 original UltraChrome inks on Premium Semi Gloss paper, L:50.
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This is a printer that has earned a huge amount of respect over the last three years, both among professionals and amateurs. Its Original UltraChrome ink set offers an excellent colour gamut for a pigment ink printer, beating many dye-based printers, a feat previously unheard of.
The same UltraChrome inks have been at the heart of Epson's professional ink-jet printers over the last three years. With UltraChrome K3 Epson says it has significantly improved on the original UltraChrome inks set. Let's see if they're right…
Epson Stylus Pro 4800 new UltraChrome K3 inks on Epson Premium Semi Gloss paper, L:50.
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So here we have it, the new K3 wonder inks from Epson and, indeed, the red corner of the sRGB gamut space has been almost entirely filled, while the green corner has been slightly extended as well. The improvement in gamut is less dramatic in the blue corner, probably because unlike with the R800 and R1800, Epson decided against implementing a separate blue ink in its UltraChrome K3 ink set. But it has to be said, at L:50, the improvement is not dramatic in any area apart from the red space.
Epson Stylus Photo R1800 UltraChrome High Gloss inks on Epson Premium Semi Gloss paper, L:50
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Epson's High Gloss UltraChrome variant is optimised for the consumer market, where a good quality glossy finish is a key attribute. We're told that the High Gloss variant is a lower density formulation and of course it doesn't employ light cyan and light magenta inks.
Its red space matches the impressive performance of UltraCrome K3 and there is a marginal improvement in the blue area compared with original UltraChrome. However, green and yellow areas aren't quite as wide as original UltraChrome.
Canon Pixma i9950, Canon Photo Paper Pro glossy paper, L:50
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Canon's i9950, profiled for Canon's premium Photo Paper Pro glossy paper, shows a particularly impressive green and red performance at L:50, though it doesn't quite match any of the UltraChromes in the blue space. But overall, these dye-based inks offer among the greatest gamut area of all at L:50.
HP Photosmart 8750 Vivera inks on HP Premium Plus Glossy, L:50
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HP has made a lot of improvements to its dye-based inks and these are embodied in its latest Vivera ink set. When used with HP's own Premium Plus photo paper, which incorporates a protective 'swellable' coating instead of a microporous coating used by Canon and Epson in their photo papers, HP has managed to achieve fade-resistance ratings that stand head and shoulders above its dye-based competitors. However, when it comes to ink gamut, as you can see above, HP still has some way to go. All three corners of the gamut space are inside that achieved by Epson's UltraChrome inks, especially so in the red and green corners. The 8750 sports a new blue ink, but this appears to contribute little to the L:50 performance above.
