Screen has signed an agreement with the French company TagG Informatique (TagG) to release a fully native IPDS controller for its Truepress Jet520 printers.
TagG has more than ten years’ experience of building high specification controllers for outputting AFP/IPDS through its partnerships with several major manufacturers of cutsheet and continuous colour printers. Hervé Lesseur, the founder and chairman of TagG Informatique, said: “Adding the functionality of the TagG controller to these high-speed inkjet printers will create a unique package.”
Tim Taylor, Screen’s VP solutions and technology, added: “Screen recognises that for many variable data applications AFP/IPDS is essential. TagG’s exceptional knowledge and experience of creating super-fast AFP/IPDS controllers creates a great solution that will allow our printers to run at full speed no matter how complicated the data.”
One of the key features of the TagG solution that excites Screen is the ability to connect the Truepress Jet520 series to legacy workflow and output management systems widely used in data centres. Taylor added: “While our PDF-based Equios workflow offers fantastic colour tools for managing the reproduction of graphic-rich pages, only being able to offer PDF has effectively excluded us from many transactional opportunities. Now that we are working with TagG, we can connect our devices to existing networks in a completely transparent way.”
One interesting option offered by the Screen/TagG solution will be the ability to have the TagG controller sitting on the same server infrastructure as its own Equios software. This combination will allow users to process both legacy AFP/IPDS, as well as being able to use Equios’ colour tools when outputting PDF. Taylor concluded: “Both data formats have benefits and the option to have native output through a single controller will offer the best of both worlds.”
TagG has been co-developing with Screen’s European operation and the solution will initially be made available through Screen’s European sales channels.