Applications

Manufacturers, remanufacturers and suppliers working in your own area of interest use QEA instruments to solve important problems. Learn how we can provide the solutions you need.

EP/Laser Printers and Components

EP and Laser Printers

EP print quality.  QEA tools let you test how your printer or printer component performs with different inks, toners, media or other variables. Top printer and component manufacturers around the world use a range of QEA products for R&D, production QC and benchmarking. These products include a full range of systems for evaluating the EP/Laser components—drums and rollers—that contribute to print quality.
Click to go to Test Systems for EP

IAS print quality analysis. Evaluating your product’s printed output and understanding how you stack up against the competition are key. QEA’s IAS image analysis systems provide the data you need. Our tools eliminate guesswork and efficiently quantify the fundamental image elements (dots, lines, and solid areas) and quality attributes (dot gain, line width, sharpness, density, contrast, image noise, tone reproduction, color registration, ghosting, jitter and a host of other characteristics). Our products turn adjectives into numbers!
Click to go to Image quality analysis

Photoreceptors. Drum manufacturers depend on our PDT products to test the electrostatic properties of their OPCs. Defects in the electrophotographic behavior of a drum mean defects in print quality. Charge acceptance, photo-discharge, dark decay, cyclic fatigue, PDIC, time of flight, and capacitance are all critical to print quality, as are coating uniformity and physical defects. Over many years, QEA’s PDT technology, based on quantifying these essential predictors, has proven to be the most reliable for evaluating drums. If you want to be sure your drums produce optimum-quality prints, our PDT products are the tools for you.
Click to go to OPC drum testing

Semi-insulating devices and materials. Suppliers of primary charger rollers (PCRs), mag rollers, transfer rollers, and elastomers are among the QEA clients using the DRA family of products (including older models such as CRT and MRT) to monitor product development and performance. Component quality is critical to print quality, and suppliers need fast, dependable ways of predicting performance. Our test systems help you control the determinants of print quality, including coating thickness, uniformity and resistivity, as well as component performance within the printer environment.
Click to go to Roller/belt testing

Inkjet Printers and Components

Screen Shot 2015-06-22 at 12.22.21 PMInkjet print quality. Historically, accurate prediction of inkjet printer or printhead performance has been impossible until the printed output was produced. But reliable data is needed much earlier in the process. For this reason, major inkjet head manufacturers rely on QEA’s IAS products to measure jetting straightness, drop position, drop size, satellite dots, missing dots and many other critical quality measures. Our IAS systems evaluate overall printer performance with measures such as banding, jitter and coalescence. For fast, reliable performance monitoring, whether for R&D, production QC or competitive benchmarking, our IAS products are the tools you need.
Click to go to Image quality analysis

Chemicals, Toners, Inks, Ribbons, and Transfer Belts

close-up shot of a CMYK ink cartridges for a color printer shallow depth of field

Testing formulations and processes. QEA’s EP instruments, including PDT drum test systems and our TFS toner fusing system, are vital to chemical suppliers for testing their formulations and processes. Our PDT systems speed testing of substrates, coatings, and other aspects of drum design. The TFS toner fusing system quantifies the many variables, including media, toner and component design, affecting fusing quality.
Click to go to Test systems for EP

The same manufacturers, among many others, also rely on our IAS image analysis systems to evaluate the performance of their products as measured by the ultimate quality of the print.
Click to go to Image quality analysis

Ink formulations. Ink manufacturers and toner suppliers use our IAS products to monitor critical interactions and determine product performance with different media and printers. If you want to know how your inks will perform with different papers and in different printing environments, or if you want to know how your formulations perform as compared with the competition, our IAS systems have the answers for you. QEA’s IAS systems apply ISO-13660 print quality standards for quantifying dots, lines, text, density, mottle, banding, satellites, inter-color bleed and the full array of print quality attributes. IAS systems eliminate subjectivity and guesswork and give you the reliable, repeatable results you need.
Click to go to Image quality analysis

Transfer belts. Transfer belt manufacturers use QEA’s DRA systems to check quality and performance by measuring the electrostatic properties of the belt—properties critical to toner transfer and hence to print quality. To know how your transfer belts will perform electrostatic transfer in real-world conditions, our DRA systems are the ideal tools.
Click to go to Roller/belt testing page

Media: Papers, Films, Coatings, and Substrates

Screen Shot 2015-06-22 at 12.26.06 PM

Media manufacturers need reliable ways to evaluate media performance with different inks, toners and printers. They also need quantitative methods for benchmarking media against objective quality standards. These companies use QEA’s DRA systems to monitor performance (click to go to Roller/belt testing) and our IAS products for benchmarking and technical support (click to go to Image quality analysis). If your product is any type of media or media component and you need to assess runnability, printability and usability, our DRA and TFS systems are critical tools for measuring and mapping dielectric relaxation in the paper and determining fusing latitude. For quantifying performance as measured by print quality, our IAS systems are the tools of choice.

Remanufactured Cartridges and Components

Remanufactured Cartridges

EP remanufacturers. Cartridge and component remanufacturers need fast, reliable ways to assess component quality (EP behavior, charge/discharge uniformity, coating thickness, etc.), make pass/fail decisions, and reliably predict the performance of their products. Toner cartridge remanufacturers use our PDT and ECT systems to determine pass/fail criteria for incoming components such as OPC drums (click to go to OPC drum testing). With our DRA system, they monitor PCR and magnetic roller quality (click to go to Roller/belt testing). To QC magnets, they use our MFA system for evaluating magnetic field distribution (click to go to Magnetic field testing). For monitoring overall cartridge performance, they turn to our IAS image analysis systems to eliminate guesswork and efficiently quantify the ultimate quality of the printed page (click to go to Image quality analysis).

Flexographic Machinery, Chemicals, and Supplies

Screen Shot 2015-06-22 at 12.28.21 PM

Monitoring flexo process quality from film to plate to final print requires the right tools. Manufacturers, flexo plate chemical suppliers and multinational flexo packaging companies turn to QEA’s FlexoIAS and FlexoIAS M handheld tools for field service, technical support, and competitive benchmarking. Our flexo product line helps you evaluate masks, films, and photopolymer- and metal-backed sleeves and plates, as well as the final print.
Click to go to Flexoplate analysis

High Security Printers and Law Enforcement

Screen Shot 2015-06-22 at 12.29.18 PM

For applications in high security printing QC, please contact QEA for more information.

To discuss these or any other applications, please call +1 978-528-2034 or email us. We are here to serve you.