Color Quality

This month, we introduce expanded color-quality evaluations with a new color print-quality test that challenges printers to produce a complex document with a variety of graphics elements, images, and fonts. After having each color printer produce this page, we presented the results for grading by our quality jury, which consisted of 30 people with a mix of expertise in graphics and printer testing. This subjective testing provides a real-world evaluation of the quality these color printers can produce. The samples shown here generally represent the quality differences we saw among each printer technology.

The test document included many different elements that were printed over a graduated color background. They include a 24-bit TIFF image of a photograph with primary colors and some shadow detail; a vector graphic using curved objects, lines, and strong cyan, magenta, and yellow colors; a pie chart with text included inside the wedges; and varied serif fonts.

We evaluated color printers by considering trueness of color, line handling, shading technique, and object placement. The results, when compared side to side, ranged from mishandled colors and line approximations on the downside to, on the upside, well-formed documents with photographic-quality images, precise line placement, and superior font handling.

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Photograph: (Left to right) High-end thermal, thermal, and ink-jet.