Details:
Summary:
During the complex process of compact disk (CD) printing, high quality print and stable production processes depend on the quality and consistency of the halftone dot reproduction. Based on intensive literature reviews on this topic and two of my earlier CD-printing research papers funded by the National Science Council (NSC) of Taiwan (Project number: NSC 2000-2815-C-144-001-H and NSC 2000-2511-S-144-002), this study illustrates that dot reproduction quality in CD printing can be improved significantly by establishing an optimum film output combination incorporating three factors: screen technology, screen resolution, and dot shape. This research was also funded by the National Science Council of Taiwan (NSC 2002-2212-E-144-001) and was designed to investigate dot reproduction attributes using various screen combinations on UV waterless offset presses. A series of experiments explore the best screen technology, screen resolution, and dot shape combinations for producing favorable dot reproductions. This research was carried out through a serious of experiments in cooperation with one of the only three CD/DVD press manufacturers in Taiwan. Both AM and FM screen technologies were used in this study. Two screen resolutions, 175lpi and 300lpi, were employed to output the conventional AM dots, while the dot sizes for outputting the FM screening were 36um (correspond to AM 175 lpi) and 21um (correspond to AM 300 lpi). The dot shapes were round and diamond for AM, and diamond and worm-like for FM. The print attributes analyzed included dot gain, ink trapping, and print contrast. With the collaboration of the CD printing industry in Taiwan, the optimum dot output combination for waterless offset presses using UV inks were recommended.