After over 15 successful years in industrial garment printing, Brother is entering a new market with the WF1-L640, a 'latex' wide-format printer designed for banners, window graphics, vehicle wraps and more. But wait...there will be more to follow.
It looks like CMYK & 2 whites but Brother has not yet released specs. The name would suggest a 64" wide printer.
“The new latex wide format printer is designed for a large range of applications such as banners, drawings, window graphics, storefront signage, trade show graphics, vehicle wraps and outdoor advertising,” said Brother in a press release. “Especially interior decorations like wallpaper, floor applications or paintings can be implemented with Brother’s printer.”
The WF1-L640 uses eco-friendly 'latex' ink and advanced printhead technology to achieve high colour depth and resolution of up
The 1200dpi printheads are Brother's own design to 1,200 dpi. Brother is no stranger to inkjet, having developed its own printheads, Maxidrive and Bitstar for the textile, MFP and label sectors.
“Taking advantage of the latest print head technology and ink chemistry, Brother has developed an eco-friendly ink with Greenguard Gold certification. The Brother latex ink in combination with the company’s print heads achieves a high colour depth and an excellent print result. Brother’s own WF1 piezo print heads generate a high quality and high resolution print up to 1,200 dpi.”
The inkset suggests CMYK+ 2 whitesBrother has partnered with Roland DG for the Rip front-end software. To be frank, the printer chassis itself looks much like a re-badged Roland TruVis AP640. The new machine will be presented for the first time at FESPA in Munich on May 23, 2023. Earlier the Brother company (2022 revenues AUD$8.3 billion and 31,000 employees), stated that it intends to introduce further industrial inkjet products in a plan up to 2030 called the Brother Group Vision "At your side 2030."
The company then said: "In order to achieve this vision, the medium-term business strategy aims to create a future business portfolio by evolving printing technology with inkjet at its core and expanding its range of applications by FY2024. The WF1-L640, a latex wide-format printer developed by Brother for signs and displays for the first time, takes on a new business area utilizing the company's ink and printhead technology cultivated through the development of garment printers that print on fabric."
Brother produces products for the global print and imaging, labelling and sewing markets and, since 2015, owns Domino Printing Sciences headquartered in the UK.
Brother International Australia was established in 1977 as a wholly owned subsidiary of Brother Industries (founded in 1908 in Japan), with a head office in Sydney and state offices throughout Australia. The company has made office and DTG printers for many years and originaly began by manufacturing sewing machines, then typewriters, later fax machines and other technologies.
Are they the same? New Brother latex and Roland AP640 resin printers side-by-side - you be the judge.
