Durst Lambda 130 Plus

NEW: The new Lambda 130 now offers both 200 and 400 pixel per inch output with auto switching as required
With more than 700 current installations world wide and more being installed weekly, Durst has used its decades of experience in the photographic printing process to create the Durst Lambda 130. It is the world leader in true photo quality extra large prints direct from digital files.

The Lambda 130 combines the advantages of classical silver halide photography with the potential of the latest laser and digital technology. As a result you can now produce murals, posters, translucent and transparencies in large formats and in fantastic quality - without an intermediate film stage - and without the compromises of CMYK output.

Increasing digitalization on the one hand, and a growing demand for high-grade pictures in large formats were the circumstances that led to the development of the Durst Lambda 130. After the first year at the sales front - in Europe, North America, and Asia as well - the fascinating perspectives that the machine is opening up for the communications industry are becoming evident. The digital large-format imager is the first machine that that can produce large sizes as well, at a quality not previously attainable and at acceptable cost.

To date unsurpassed - classical photographic quality. With the Durst Lambda 130 ultra high photographic quality can be dependably achieved with any size enlargements. When they are compared directly with other techniques, the classical photo materials maintain their supremacy with superb rendition in terms of resolution, contrast range and brilliance. The wide range of different photo materials (non-transparent, transparent, high-gloss, gloss and matt papers) provide creative latitude. Final treatment by mounting or laminating also raises no problems, and is far easier than most alternative materials.

The main feature is the XL format that this mature technology offers: up to 50" (127 cm) wide and up to 160' (50m) long in one piece. Picture sizes that exceed the maximum paper width are automatically split into strips and exposed. The panel dimensions and overlap can be varied at will. It exposes at a rapid 12 inches per minute regardless of the material, varying the laser output to match the emulsion speed.

One of the cleverest mechanisms on the Durst Lambda 130 is the five-fold paper turret for the unexposed material. With it you can swiftly switch from one width to another, from matt paper to glossy, from transparent to opaque material, from RA-4 to reversal material rapidly and easily.

Pointing the way into the future: digitally controlled laser light. The Lambda 130 reveals new dimensions with digital image exposure. A one-beam three-colour laser (RGB) exposes all three layers of the paper or film in one pass. The feared reciprocity effect - when the reproduction scale and exposure time are changed - does not arise with this method. Each colour pixel is defined by one of the 256 blue-green-red shades of colour and is exposed as a continuous-tone point, with 16.7 million colours possible.

The remaining advantages of digital imaging are immediately obvious to professionals and practitioners: after ripping, but before exposure, the pictures can be dynamically rotated, mirrored, scaled and cropped, the contrast perfectly regulated, the density and colour adjusted at will. Also applied on the fly is unsharp masking.
The advantages over conventional enlarging are evident each time an exposure is made. The everyday problems of the past such as stray light, fluff and dust, Newton's rings etc. suddenly cease to exist. White areas and lettering stay white, regardless of the image density setting. Fine textures are depicted with detailed exactness, areas are absolutely homogeneous and graduated colours have extreme accuracy. Finally the intermediate step of negative film or transparency is eliminated, so that both time and expense are saved.

The computer chosen by Durst is currently a Compaq XP1000 workstation (Alpha-Risc chip) for maximum speed with it's 64bit UNIX operating system. The input formats are TIFF, JPeg or Postscript Level 2 (PS or EPS) files. Operation is surprisingly and pleasantly easy. Image and text files from all the standard EI systems and from PC and Macintosh systems can be handled (online or by transfer media such as Iomega Jaz, CD-ROM, Exabyte etc.) The extremely fast built-in Cheetah RIP can process 400Mb in approximately one minute.
Other advantages of the Lambda are that unlike electrostatic plotters the Lambda 130 does not require special ambient operating conditions (15° to 30°C, 25% to 80% relative humidity). The area required is far smaller than a conventional horizontal enlarger darkroom. The machine is supplied in modules that will fit through a standard door and assembled on site.

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