The P-55 thermal retransfer DVD/CD printer from TEAC is no ordinary disc printer; it's actually four printers in one. In fact the P-55 is similar to our favorite crack commando unit of fugitive military prisoners; I am of course talking about, “The A Team”. The TEAC P-55 is best described as four individual printers in one, all with unique strengths, like “The A Team” (of course). The capability to print with any of the 4 available ribbons creates a versatile and skilled unit of print technologies. Each different ribbon brings something different to the table, and like “The A Team” they travel together in the name of justice…and good print quality.
The black ribbon is kind of like the crazy pilot, because it gets you where you want to go without any hesitation. Black ribbons are great for full-coverage prints and provide excellent contrast in black and white, or grayscale. With thermal retransfer printing, the last panel looks just as good as the first so you can count on 2000 high quality discs from start to finish. When combined with available white or silver printable media, you’ll get amazing print quality that is both water-resistant and UV stable.
For a bit more flash and visual appeal, we turn to the P-55 color ribbon for high-resolution color prints. With a resolution of 400 dots-per-inch, you get the results that turn heads. The Color ribbon has 500 full CMYK panels so you will get 500 discs great looking discs, even at maximum coverage.
The leader of the group has to be the photo ribbon. It does the ordinary job of disc printing in a most unusual way - through the dye-sublimation process. Using high end “secret” technologies the color panels of the photo ribbon are transformed from a solid to a gas in a way that is of course “sublime”. This dye sublimation allows for most beautiful, most vibrant colors and the most realistic flesh tones available on any printer. At 500 prints per ribbon and the same CMYK four-panel color palette, the photo ribbon is absolutely worth every penny.
The strong-man of the group is TEAC's new Versamax ribbon, which offers something that no other thermal printer has: the ability to print on any disc, even non-thermal discs. Versamax “Pities the Fool”, with its adhesive panel that allows it to even print on inkjet media, yes that is right, I said inkjet media. It can do this thanks to its three-color, four-panel ribbon that includes cyan, magenta, yellow, and an adhesive panel that allows the print to stick most any disc surface.
These four ribbons can be used individually in one elite printing machine: the Teac P-55. Don't you just love it when a good plan comes together?
