Ink Chemistry
HP ‘get’ ink, and have hundreds of patents in ink chemistry, with more than 100 unique inks unveiled over the last 20 years. The use of quality ingredients and unique inks are proprietary to HP, and their ink chemists are arguably the best in the World
Ink chemistry itself is so advanced that the HP team devotes 3-5 years to perfect each new ink, with an overall annual spend in excess of US$1 billion in printing and imaging research and development
New formulas, made from a dozen or so ingredients, can fluctuate wildly in terms of reliability and stability when changing the recipe, which means that many thousands of hours are spent putting the ink through hundreds of formula refinements and dozens of performance and reliability tests. There can be as many as 1,000 prototype formulations built and discarded along the way
Ink Chemistry Testing
Inks are engineered to be consistently flawless, that is virtually free of even the smallest microscopic particles, so as to ensure the best print performance and to prevent nozzles from clogging. In fact, every HP patented ink goes through over 70 tests – including checks of:
- purity
- viscosity
- surface tension
- smear fastness
- material compatibility
- print permanence (framed under glass, framed with UV filter, unframed, dark storage)
- humidity resistance
- unprotected resistance to Ozone
- water resistance
HP undertake two types of testing; internal testing and independent testing. Each are rigorous and either developed by HP or the relevant standardisation organisations or independent test labs, to ensure reliable claims related to print permanence and durability
Document testing: HP follow accepted acceleration methods intended to mimic real-world experiences. This, for example, can determine if an archived document will retain its black text and colour quality for decades
Photo testing: HP uses established, independent test labs such as Wilhelm Imaging Research to test inks (and photo paper products) and directly works with industry standard bodies such as the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) which develop procedures used to test and compare products. If third party testing isn't possible (or when the technology is so advanced there isn't an industry standard), HP develop its own set of tests based on their extensive experience and knowledge of customer applications. BLI carried out an independent study in 2011 covering testing of 'comparative page yield/reliability evaluation' of original HP ink cartridges versus Third Party Refilled Cartridges (from Cartridge World, Ink-O-Dem, Office Max, Walgreens - a copy of which can be found here
