Duratrans or Backlit Inkjet?

on Friday, 01 August 2014. Posted in About Our Products

Duratrans or Backlit Inkjet?
What is Duratrans?
  • Duratrans is a trade name created by Kodak in 1979
  • Fujitrans is a trade name created by Fujifilm
  • Duratrans is the name of Kodak’s large format colour transparency material
  • Duratrans is Kodak-branded colour transparency material which is the predecessor to Kodak Professional Endura Transparency Optical Display Material
  • Duratrans is a widely-used generic term for any display graphic fabricated using either of the above materials (Duratrans or Endura)
  • Duratrans is a widely-used generic term for the Kodak-approved process by which Duratrans material is fabricated into ready-to-use large format graphics or posters for backlit display
What is Duratrans NOT?
  • Duratrans is not a thermal, piezo, or solvent inkjet backlit film or media
  • Duratrans is not the light box, display case, or other hardware that may contain a Duratrans print
  • Duratrans is not the translucent acrylic or plastic substrate used to suspend or enclose large format backlit display graphics
  • Duratrans is not a colour slide film or small format colour transparency film
  • Duratrans is not a generic term for non-Kodak branded colour transparency film or media
  • Duratrans is not a generic term for non-Kodak approved processes for fabricating large format backlit display graphics
Who invented Duratrans?
  • Eastman Kodak Company, 1979
Who owns the Duratrans trademark?
  • Eastman Kodak Company
What are the uses for Duratrans?

Duratrans material is intended for large format, full-colour display of photographic content in a controlled, backlit environment, so that light passes through and illuminates and brightens the graphic display. Most common applications for Duratrans are retail, advertising and promotional, where maximum colour saturation and contrast are desired. Here are some of the most common applications of Duratrans graphics:

  • retail, point-of-purchase display
  • public display advertising
  • trade show display
  • educational and informational display
  • fine art display
  • lighted wayfinding signage
Why use Duratrans?

Duratrans is generally regarded in the professional large format display graphics industry as the benchmark for quality in translucent, backlit graphics media and process. There are five observable characteristics that serve to distinguish Duratrans from other backlit media and process alternatives:

  1. RESOLUTION. The Duratrans imaging process yields an effective digital resolution of up to 4000 dpi, as compared to maximums of 300 to 2880 dpi in alternative processes. This allows for greater detail, crisper edges, and truer solid colours.
  2. DOT SIZE. The pixel size of Duratrans imaging process is variable, similar to stochastic screening. This results in smoother colour transitions within photographic artwork.
  3. SATURATION. Colour rendering with Duratrans has significantly higher potential saturation and depth, than do other solutions.
  4. OPACITY. The opacity (ability to block transmissive light) of black colours in artwork is noticeably higher with Duratrans, resulting in crisper, sharper images that contain black elements and/or shadows.
  5. COLOUR LIFE. Life expectancy of colours under UV exposure is higher for Duratrans than for dye-based and most pigment-based inkjet processes.
What alternatives are there to Duratrans?

In the world of commercial digital large format colour, there are three main alternatives to Duratrans in common use, for generating full-colour photographic backlit displays: dye-based inkjet; pigment-based inkjet and solvent-based inkjet. None of these alternatives offer the detail, saturation or opacity of Duratrans (see previous question & answer). Common reasons for using these and/or other alternatives include comparative price and available image sizes.

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