In little over a year since the launch of the Rho 205, there have been several product advances, the ability to increase the number of print heads from 8 to 16, effectively doubling the output speed, and several unique ink options. The Rho was the worldπs first flat-bed to offer white ink printing, now with both under and over printing capability, also two additional spot colours and the selective varnish option. For fully automated production, the Durst feeder/stacker system allows for unattended operation. These are a few of the reasons the Rho continues as the benchmark for all flat bed inkjet technology.

The latest development, "Smart Speed" is the title we have given to the dramatic improvement in output speed available on both the 8 and 16 head versions of the Rho 205. With no loss of quality Smart Speed increases output by approximately 30% across all print quality levels (1, 2, and 3). This means that at print level 1, the Rho 205/16 is capable of printing up to 65m2 per hour. Smart Speed will be available for immediate delivery on all new machines and, in keeping with the Durst philosophy of being able to upgrade existing models, will also be available as an option on currently installed machines by the end of March.

Called "Smart Speed" because of the "clever" use of software and hardware working together for the optimum result, the speed improvement is achieved by new image processing software and a new encoder, which allows high speed transport of media with even greater accuracy. Importantly, this increase in speed does not affect the superb print quality of the 205 and images printed as examples, with and without Smart Speed, show no discernible difference.