Future Trends in Color Control Technology - Interview with GretagMacbeth CEO

In mid-October, GretagMacbeth's President and Chief Executive Officer Thomas J. Vacchiano and Mr. Jr are passing through Hong Kong as a world-class color quality control and color management development company. What new development plans will GretagMacbeth have? How do they see the Asian market? How do they view the future of color management technology? We have the opportunity to visit Mr. Vacchiano and listen to his opinions. Here are the contents of the visit:

Franki: There is software in the GretagMacbeth product line. There is hardware. What is your core business?

Thomas: Our core business is to develop color-related scientific knowledge. Every engineer who works at GretagMacbeth, if you ask him about the content of his work, they will say in unison that applying color science knowledge to solve customer problems is their main job. Our company's desire is to become the world leader in color quality control and color management systems. Whether it is color measurement, color simulation or color communication, we all want to be perfect and do our best. This is how we design each product. The idea behind it. The entire content and main goal of our business is to assist customers with different needs and solve problems related to color.

Franki: How do you relate scientific knowledge of color to commercial needs in the market?

Thomas: Every product that is proposed to be developed must first undergo a series of evaluation processes before the product can be officially developed. We will ask questions to evaluate from various aspects. For example: Is the product technically feasible? The problem solved by using this product is whether the customer thinks it is most urgently needed. Is this kind of customer a small number of molecules in the market or is it a large number? After we confirm the commercial value of the product and at the same time have a certain degree of market potential, we will formally invest in product development. Color management products are a good example. This type of product can solve important customer issues and actually help increase productivity. Our sales on this type of product increased by 40% last year.

Franki: Color management products do develop rapidly. From a developer's point of view, how will the next stage of such products develop?

Thomas: The current color management products need to be manually adjusted and need to be trained. It is not very convenient. In the future, color management products will surely be easier and more automated. This is the so-called Close-Loop CMS. These systems are most likely to be online or online, that is, the regulation of colors is completely automated. The entire process is not carried out by humans. A device equipped with a dead-loop color management system will measure the color space of the printed sheets in real time. If it deviates from the predetermined color space, the system will instruct the device to make corresponding adjustments. It is not easy to do this, but many important equipment suppliers are working in this direction. The beneficiaries of this technology are likely to be digital printers. Digital printing and the infinite loop color management system will create new stimuli in the existing market. In the future, digital printing will surely achieve the same quality as offset printing. , Customers will not sacrifice quality because of the use of digital printing. Companies such as Heidelberg, Xerox and Hewlett-Packard are among the top digital presses because of their color management systems.

Franki: Is your recently proposed Color Exchange Format (CxF) a part of future color management blueprints?

Thomas: CxF and color management are two different concepts. Color management helps us to predict the performance of the same color in different media, which in turn helps us to bring these effects closer. CxF aims at the accuracy of color communication throughout the entire color production process. Basically, CxF's main task is to convey color information. This is the same as sending a color version from one place to another, except that CxF is delivered digitally. The benefits of using CxF in workflows are to reduce redo costs due to color communication errors, simplify the process of detecting color, and ultimately increase efficiency. There are many factors that describe the appearance of color. For example, print can also have five to six items. For example, the Lab value of color can be used to communicate the position of the color in the color space. The density value of the color can be used to compare the thickness of the ink. The color metameric index can tell you how much the color is affected by the light. In addition, the surface glossiness and texture will also affect the appearance of the color. If we want to accurately describe the color, we must transfer these data at the same time. You can think of CxF as a container, we put the physical measurement of color, ICC Profile, light source The data related to the data, the conditions of the observer, the performance of the plane, the price, the weight, etc., are all put into the color-related data, and then transported from one place to another. The receiving party only needs to open the color container and take out the data inside. , you can copy a color exactly and accurately. This is very important for enterprises that separate design, production, and sales from place to place. Accurate transmission of color data is the premise for accurately copying colors. Accurate reproduction of colors is the prerequisite for product quality assurance. Can you imagine Kodak Filin's yellow being different around the world? Can you imagine the blue color of the IBM computer being different around the world? Therefore, it is important to accurately transfer color data. When we design the CxF specifications, we need to consider the needs of current operations and take care of future developments. Therefore, the advantage of adopting an open format design is that any company or any supplier can add its own content to CxF. At the same time, it is also very easy to be compatible with various software.

Franki: In addition to developing color technologies for the global supply chain, do you have any plans for development in Asia?

Thomas: We have very good development in Asia, especially in mainland China, which is our fastest growing market in Asia. The printing industry in China has developed rapidly. Over the years, the quality has improved a lot. At the same time, the demand for color control and color management has also increased. The demand in this area will bring us opportunities for development. We will invest in the future. More resources to develop the Chinese market, including the possibility of setting up an office in Shanghai so that we can respond more quickly to the needs of the Chinese market, provide more support to our sales agents, and assist our customers more quickly in solving problems. Printing companies are very much welcome to contact us at any time to inquire about technical issues related to color management. We are happy to share our achievements in color research with printing companies.