Canon has taken home high honors for its recently expanded series of imagePrograf wide-format printers. Buyers Laboratory LLC (BLI) awarded the company first place in both the individual product and whole-series categories. Canon was recognized for both its fine art/photography and large-format signage printers.
“With the expansion of the imagePrograf Pro Series of wide format printers, Canon has swept this year’s Annual ‘Pick’ and Line of the Year Awards in the Wide Format Printer Category,” said Joe Tischner, wide format analyst at Buyers Laboratory in a statement. Canon also won the “Line of the Year” award for the entire imagePrograf Pro lineup.
The individual products that were recognized included the imagePrograf Pro-4000 and Pro-2000. The 44-inch and 24-inch photo printers, respectively, use 11 inks, feature an increased color gamut compared to previous models, improved scratch resistance, greater image clarity, and excellent shadow reproduction with increased black optical density.
Canon was also awarded first place for outstanding indoor poster and signage printer for the Pro-6000S and Pro-4000S. These models print up to 60 and 44 inches wide, respectively, and feature an eight-color system that provides a good balance between print speed and quality. The printers offer improved ease of use thanks to the Multifunction Roll unit (standard on the Pro-6000S, optional on all others) that automatically sends a print job to the correct paper roll.
Naturally, Canon was pleased with BLI’s results. “We are proud that BLI has recognized the imagePrograf line of large-format printers for its high-quality, ease of use and brilliant results,” said Toyotsugu Kuwamura, vice president of the Business Imaging Solutions Group for Canon USA.
BLI selects products for awards based on two months of extensive comparison testing involving competing products from all major original equipment manufacturers. Beyond printers, the company tests some 15,000 total products annually.