Print Solutions
At a virtual press conference yesterday afternoon, Global Graphics Software outlined details of the latest innovations in its Harlequin RIP.
Innovative new features, including automatic tiling for processing large scale output at high speed, and extended Advanced Inkjet Screens, for enhanced image quality, are introduced in this major new release. Harlequin Host Renderer 13 raises the bar in terms of productivity features for print companies and provides new options for press manufacturers for scaling multiple RIPs for high performance digital front ends.
Version 13 of the Harlequin Host Renderer adds automatic tiling to maximise the throughput of huge PDF, TIFF and JPEG files such as those generated in the corrugated packaging, wide and grand format, décor and textile markets. Harlequin 13 automatically tiles these large pages – some can be up to 200 metres long – to split them across multiple RIPs for increased speed and improved load balancing.
Output is continuously streamed to the printer so that users don’t have to wait for the entire page to be RIPped before printing can begin. This new feature minimises RAM requirements and costs for a digital front end (DFE) processing very large output.
‘The new tiling feature is specifically for high speed digital printing,’ said Martin Bailey, Global Graphics Software’s CTO. ‘Automatic tiling helps in maximising throughput by splitting the output across several RIPs. It also reduces the cost for a DFE built to handle huge PDF pages, either every day or as an occasional occurrence, because the peak memory usage for a tile can be much lower than that for the whole page.
‘Speed continues to be a key focus of Harlequin development, because a faster RIP enables presses with very high data rates to be driven at engine speed and reduces the bill of materials for a digital front end (DFE) or controller.’
The Harlequin Host Renderer (HHR) is supplied as a component or pre-packaged with a parallel processing pipeline as Harlequin Direct to enable OEMs to achieve the fastest possible time to market and to revenue while building a highly sophisticated and high quality DFE for a high speed digital press
