Screen has announced a new series of platesetter, the PlateRite Ultima 24000N, designed for plates up to 24 A4 pages. These are external drum thermal designs.
Essentially, Screen has updated its existing Ultima 24000 series, using the more advanced GLV imaging heads with an upgraded optical system, as already used in the 8900N and 16000N series. These heads support Screen’s own Spekta 2 hybrid screening though you will need compatible plates to get the best of this.
The new models have a slightly smaller footprint, mainly because they use a smaller drum. This takes plates from 650 x 490 mm up to 1,652 x 1,325 mm. It means that the maximum plate size is slightly smaller than the previous models, but Martijn van den Broek, sales and marketing manager for Screen Europe, points out that in recent years there have not been any presses produced that use the larger size, so it makes sense to reduce the footprint of these units.
There are two models in the series. The Z version is fitted with a 1024 channel GLV with 2x 60W Laser diode and can produce 35 plates per hour, assuming the largest size plate. The cheaper S model has a single 512 channel GLV with 1x 60W LD, and is capable of 24 plates per hour, as opposed to the 22 plates of the older S version. Screen appears to have dropped the ZX and SX versions of the previous series.
Screen also says that these new platesetters are more power efficient, which should result in roughly 40 percent less power consumption on average, as this will obviously vary depending on the the way the device is used and the ratio between idle time and imaging time.
Naturally, the new models can be used with Screen’s MA-L40000 multi-cassette autoloader, which can hold up to 300 plates. Screen has said that it will develop a new model of its Skid autoloader, which is able to deliver a large number of uniformly sized plates. The whole system can be linked to Screen’s online maintenance system, the Trust Network Service.
The new units are due to be released in March in all regions, and the price should remain similar to the current models. You can find further details at screeneurope.com.
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