UNDER THE HOOD | THE DURST P5 500 TEX ISUB the shortened process brings faster turnaround and lower costs, not least because the whole machine can be operated by one person. Durst claims a 60% reduction in energy costs compared to a two-step process using a separate calender and a 40% saving in production time. Go Big or Go Home The new machine essentially expands this all-in-one production of printed fabric ready for cutting, sewing, mounting, or otherwise finishing to the 5.2m width, reducing or eliminating the need to sew together narrower panels in the bigger applications. While the 3.3m model had a facility to print independently on two rolls of up to 1.6m width, the P5 500 doesn’t offer this (it could potentially handle three rolls at that width), so it really is only for jobs that need more than the 3.3m width. As well as handling the bigger rolls of fabric, it goes faster than the 3.3m, though perhaps by less than you might expect. While both models can hit an impressive sounding 422 m2/hr on transfer paper (which is limited to 3.3m rolls, hence no speed improvement for the 5m model), printing direct and fixing using the iSUB drying process slows them down, with the original machine producing up to around 130 m2/hr and the new one 152 m2/hr. While that’s not to be sniffed at – bearing in mind that this is printed fabric that can go straight into finishing – it doesn’t scale in proportion with the extra width of the 5.2m roll. Durst says this is because ‘the primary goal was not maximum speed but delivering exceptional image quality and colour uniformity at ultra-wide widths.’ To that end, both models use the same number of Ricoh Gen 5 printheads – 16 – for CMYK print, but there are options for additional colours within that which include light cyan, light magenta, and light black for smoother gradients in things like skin tones, plus a gamut-expanding orange and a dedicated Permeo agent to help with ink penetration into double-sided materials such as flags so that both sides match visually. Up to eight channels are supported, so you can’t quite have all of these at once. The Ricoh printheads offer resolutions of 400 x 600dpi in greyscale mode and 800 x 600dpi in binary. The drop size options in the former mode are 7, 14, and 21pl, while the latter uses 7pl only, hence the higher resolution. The choice of which to use will depend on the type of material, application, and the graphical content; fine details and smallish text would call for the higher resolution while large photographic images with subtle colour gradation will benefit from the greyscale mode. The P5 500 TEX iSUB can handle media rolls weighing up to 200kg and up to 350mm in diameter; like its smaller sibling incorporates a roll sewing device that allows rolls to be joined on the machine to minimise wastage when switching. A ‘smart’ exhaust system deals with fumes. Printing to transfer paper requires the installation of light vacuum plates inside the printer, a simple task that the user can perform in a few minutes. These provide the necessary drawdown to hold thin transfer paper sufficiently flat as the printhead carriage passes over it without applying the kind of tension that could cause it to tear. On the software side, the P5 500 TEX iSUB is driven by Durst’s existing workflow offering that runs all its machines, providing RIP and substrate/setting-specific colour management functions, and production monitoring via a dashboard. This can be expanded with the company’s Analytics and Lift ERP offerings for larger multi-machine sites. The big beast has had a positive reception since its introduction in the late spring, with more than 20 units sold at the time of writing in early August. Durst comments: “The launch has generated tremendous interest, affirming the market’s need for a high-quality ultra-wide dye-sub solution.” Given that there are few alternatives at this size – EFI’s Matan 5 perhaps being the only one from a ‘big name’ printer manufacturer and still requiring an external calender – it looks like Durst has a strong offering here. Width: 5.2m Speed: Up to 152m2/hr including iSUB fixing; up to 422m2/hr to transfer paper Print Heads: 16 x Ricoh Gen 5 Resolution: Up to 800 x 400dpi Colours: CMYK standard – eight channels Options: Light cyan, light magenta, light black, orange, and Permeo wetting agent Statistics ▼The Durst P5 500 was launched in 2022 as a fivemeter large-format printer with LED curing technology 27 www.signlink.co.uk Issue 261 - October / November 2025 ▲The Press can be used to make a variety of retail and event graphics
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