Archived from groups: comp.periphs.printers (
More info?)
I worked for HP too. But don't assume one knows about ink because he or she works
or worked for HP. I have 3 bottles of Canon compatible black ink in front of me
right now. One is dye based and 2nd is pigmented and the 3rd is somewhere in between.
I tested all 3 by using the ink to draw on 3 pieces of plain paper. The dye ink is
darkest. The one in the middle is almost as dark too. The pigmented black looks gray.
But then it doesn't mean when printed it will be gray. By laying more droplets the gray
will be dense enough to be dark black.
From a more technical point of view, pigment ink does not have a wide gamut like dye
inks. So dye based black ink is naturally darker than pigment black ink. Pigment ink
is much more archival than dye inks and more waterproof. That's the reason when printing
text pigmented ink is desired.
Mickey wrote:
> Your new here aren't you?
> Stevelee wrote:
>
>> A good subject turned into worthless fight. People really need to grow
>> up.
>
> How true but you have to admit Measkite is a great fisherman. Every
> time he throws out a line someone bites and bites again.
>
>>
>> Well, I saw a bit of incorrect understanding about dye based and pigment
>> based ink. No intention to fight with anyone. You may consider the
>> following
>> just my 2 cents worth of opinion.
>>
>> Dye based black ink is actually darker than pigmented black ink. Just
>> use a
>> cotton swap to catch some black ink by squeezing a black ink cartridge
>> and
>> use the swap to draw on a piece plain paper. You will see ink from a
>> BCI-3eBK
>> (pigmented) gets a gray looking but not the black ink from a BCI-6BK.
>>
>> In order for the pigmented black to look as dark as dye based black
>> the printer
>> driver is programmed to consume more ink per pixel. That's why the
>> cartridge
>> (BCI-3eBK) is bigger.
>>
>> The reason pigmented black ink is used for text printing is because it
>> is better
>> waterproof than dye based ink. It is also more fade resistant.
>> Pigmented ink is
>> also much more expensive than dye based ink. It can be twice of the
>> dye based ink.
>> Many 3rd party BCI-3eBK cartridges, especially cheap ones, are not
>> pre-filled
>> with pigmented black ink. Most people just can't tell pigmented black
>> from dye based
>> black.
>>
>>
> Since you tagged onto a post by Bruce which quoted a long post from Bob
> Headrick, you need to know he is an HP employee and works for their
> Inkjet division. If you thought his comments were incorrect, you need
> to stop and give some thought.
>
> Just MO
>
> Mickey