Epson R200 Banding on discs

[GizmoTheGremlin]

Yes I know what youre thinking. "Not another epson R200 thread." Sorry guys.

When I print DVDs with the epson R200, very small horizontal bands appear on the disc. They aren't extremely noticeable - if the disc is held two feet away or so, you can't even see them. I've tried a lot of different settings, print head alignment, head cleaning, etc.. and nothing. funny thing is, it prints pictures perfectly - almost flawless. The problem is only on discs.

I've tried 3 different types of discs - prodisc, beall, and the one that came with the printer - maxell i think. I have riteks on the way.

I've tried printing with 4 different programs: epson print, accoustica, photoshop cs, paint shop pro. all the same results.

I even exchanged the printer, but the second printer does the exact same thing. Here are some pictures:



close up of uma's ass:



another close - the bands are more noticeable in darker areas:



I'm wondering, is this typical printing for this printer? I can live with it, but do you have some settings that eliminate this?

[chunkT]

Nah thats pretty much normal. If your gonna get that nit picky you might wanna look at higher cost thermal printer. if you apply more ink which may resolve some of the "banding" issue you risk of too much ink and cost more and extending drying times.

[Gregg]

Hi,

Yes this is the way it is but it also depends on the media /printing urface/ you're printing on. Some discs /surfaces/ will "suck" more ink in and faster than others.
You can try using more ink saturation but sometimes the printouts will be darker thann the original. Another trick you can try is to print the same picture one more time /without removing and/or moving the disc from the tray !!!/ at lower ink setings /-1, -2/. Then you're going to get a really good quality picture.

Enjoy!

[chunkT]

I found the the "thermal" or smooth discs print beautiful with little or no banding as you call it issues. They dry like normal dvd injets too.. but he is right that each manufacture has different compounds on the top that will affect ink quality and distribution.

[GizmoTheGremlin]

Alas, I was afraid of that. I'll try double printing, but it sounds like that has a high potential for problems.

I modified a canon i550 some time ago, and the prints are beautiful on discs. no banding and the color seems to look better than the epson. unfortunately, I've damaged a couple of print heads and decided to go with the epson - only inkjet dvd printer available in the US. have to say though, the epson prints pictures better than my canon does.

thanks for the help.

[DVDDave]

actually, your problem can be solved by the way you scan your discs. if they aren't picked up by the scanner in an exact square in relation to the circle, you'll get the results you are getting.

[GizmoTheGremlin]

Ahh, i see what youre saying, but I'm not actually scanning, then printing. Most of my prints are from digital images, and no matter what, I get horizontal banding.

I'd love to try thermal printing, but that isn't an option right now.

double printing seems to help a lot (especially with black), but it is pretty easy to mess it up and it requires a lot of ink.

anybody find some magical setting that solves this? or media that minimizes it?

[DVDDave]

try this link and search for your images

http://www.cdcovers.cc/

[stiltman]

try this link and search for your images

http://www.cdcovers.cc/

You recomend printing their garbage??
That site is the last of all last resorts
Much better here http://daprogger.mine.nu/


@ Gizmo, are you taking picts of the CD from a camera?

Try descreening the image in PS (filters; guassian blur, despeckel, unsharp mask) Then adjust levels with auto levels

[RickTheRed]

@stiltman,
daprogger is god dawn to slow to me. I know it's not my connection. It's the only site it takes forever to download anything. Too bad, they have beautiful artwork!
Btw, if you are lucky, you will find good stuff on cdcovers
@Gizmo,
I'll check my discs. I have not noticed the band and I do look at them closer than 24 inches.

[GizmoTheGremlin]

It really isn't an image problem. I usually make my own labels/covers from posters from e-posters.ru, outnow.ch, etc...

I made a 600dpi pure Black circle in photoshop, then printed on a disc (2800 x 2800 pixel image). It still had the same horizontal lines - slight but noticeable.

Are you suggesting that it's the image because you don't have this issue with the printer? Just curious, becuase the scan doesn't really do it justice. You have to see the disc to know what I'm talking about. If you use this printer, and don't have this problem, please tell me what program you use to print, media, and your print settings.

[DVDDave]

try this link and search for your images

http://www.cdcovers.cc/

You recomend printing their garbage??
That site is the last of all last resorts
Much better here http://daprogger.mine.nu/


@ Gizmo, are you taking picts of the CD from a camera?

Try descreening the image in PS (filters; guassian blur, despeckel, unsharp mask) Then adjust levels with auto levels

stiltman--i just downloaded The Perfect Storm from both sites. while the cover was a better image on the site you recomend, the DVD was better from where I go. also, i had to turn off my firewall to use the site you recommend???

are we backing up movies or spending lots of time to make'm look pretty???

[GizmoTheGremlin]

hey now, no hijacking my thread. wait till the conversation is over, then you can have it. :P

[stiltman]

hey now, no hijacking my thread. wait till the conversation is over, then you can have it. :P

Sorry

I PMed my response


I scan the original at 600dpi import to PS and make it look nice
I use ProDisc print to hubs
I use Epson print CD +1 at photo / photoenhanced / vivid / none

I don't see the problems you are seeing
My backups look almost identical to the original minus the sheen the original have. I just looked at one with a lot of black and it looked perfect

[GizmoTheGremlin]

hey now, no hijacking my thread. wait till the conversation is over, then you can have it. :P

Sorry

I PMed my response

No problem m8. I appreciate all the help, I just didn't want this thread to turn into an argument over cdcover.cc which has happened to many threads before.

I use ProDisc print to hubs
I use Epson print CD +1 at photo / photoenhanced / vivid / none

I tried to duplicate your results: used prodisc, Epson print CD +1 at photo / photoenhanced / vivid / none. But the results came out about the same.

What paper type to you set it on? CD/DVD?

[stiltman]

I tried both CD/DVD and Primium CD/DVD and they looked exactly the same on the Prodiscs

BTW, are you using OEM or after market ink cartridges? I compared my megatoners to the OEMs and they were almost the same (very slight difference in blues)

[GizmoTheGremlin]

BTW, are you using OEM or after market ink cartridges? I compared my megatoners to the OEMs and they were almost the same (very slight difference in blues)

I'm still using the same EPSON carts that came with the printer. It's brand new! I've got the JLWsales bulk ink kit. I may hook it up this weekend and see if it does the same thing. I expect it will, but I'm pretty much out of options.

I hooked the printer up to my laptop, it's running windows xp, downloaded the latest driver from epson and tried again. same results.

perhaps i'm being too picky. but it doesn't make sense that it happens to some people and not others.

funny thing is, I took a sheet of epson photo better and cut it to the shape of a disc. I used spray adhesive to attach it to a disc, then ran it through like a normal disc. it printed the same bands. The same paper ran through like normal produces photographic results. go figure.

[theiceman_84]

I have had a similar problem before, the problem was that on the printer preference setting the quality option was set to text & image, if you change it to photo or photo best the lines dont show. Hope you get it working.

[GizmoTheGremlin]

I've tried photo, and best photo, but to no avail.

I went ahead and added the JLWsales bulk ink system, and now it's seems worse. blacks are a little lighter on discs and I can see horizontal bands on photos too. the black is perfect on the photo, but the colored areas seem to have the bands. it's very strange.

I'm going to email JLWsales and see what they think.

I've never had much luck with epson, but this is the worst.

[dmagic1]

@GizmoTheGremlin

How or what settings do you use to print to your disc with Accoustica?

[hoppy12]

I started having the horizontal banding problem with my 200 after replacing my ink with compatibles, only with certain media; however. when I replaced my ink back to OEMs the problem appeared to disapear. Hope that helps.

[RickTheRed]

Gizmo,
I've taken a closer look.
I think I saw something but I cannot tell. I imagine a pattern when I put a huge light at 6 inches from my eyes. But I am not sure and the banding, if any, is not on all the disc
Overall, the print is good (the print is not photo like I agree)

I feel stupid asking this but, wth, are you 100% sure that the nozzle check is 100% good?
Under normal lightning and distance, do you remark the band, or does someone else see them?

[bunyip]

I don't know if this is still relevant with the modern Epsons but I still use an older model where banding can be quite prominent. I overcome this problem by tweaking some of the advanced 'Printer Features', particularly the 'Microweave' and 'Error diffusion' settings.

[KTH]

I purchased a R300 which had the banding problem when printing both on CD's/DVD's & all different types of paper including Photo Paper. So I returned the printer for another R300. This one works better but you can still see banding on CD's/DVD's and if you look very closely you can still see some very light banding on printouts even on Epson Photo Paper. So I switched back to my Stylus Photo 900 which does not have this problem. I got the R300 because of the individual ink cartridges. I didn't like throwing away a cartridge because one of the five inks ran out. It just seemed like a big waste of very expensive ink. I think that the banding is caused by a design flaw on Epsons part. The banding looks like the printouts I get when I print a photo on paper while my Stylus Photo 900's lever is still set to print CD/DVD. The lever adjusts the height of the printheads on the SP 900, just like lowering the CD/DVD tray does for disc printing on the R300. It looks like on the R300/R200 printers they didn't do a good job at setting the optimal distance between the printheads and the different types on media. In fact I have never had a banding problem with Epson printers before that couldn't be corrected either by cleaning the printheads or aligning them.

[iooi]

Disk not touching anything on the way through when being printed is it ?
Made sure you havent handled the front surface of the disk before printing small amounts of grease/sweat can affect prints.
Could also be a nozel alignment issue.
On the covers not cd issue banding is usually caused by using to lower a setting. I get it on my 900 if i use 360dpi inkjet paper setting on photo paper (I'm a skinflint...) but using Photo Paper setting works just fine.

[classfour]

Are you using the "premium CD/DVD" surface setting?

Have you tried applying Krylon Clear Acrylic to "bring out"
the color of the disc - while smoothing the appearance of
the ink.

I have pretty decent results by doing this.

Using Memorex, ProDisc, Verbatim inkjet printable media.

[GizmoTheGremlin]

@GizmoTheGremlin

How or what settings do you use to print to your disc with Accoustica?

set it for epson stylus photo r200 full-faced direct to cd (v2.10 or above) then cd/dvd premium surface/best photo/photoEnhance/vivid/high sharpness

I started having the horizontal banding problem with my 200 after replacing my ink with compatibles, only with certain media;

was still using the original epson carts up till a few hours ago, and the banding has been there since the very first print.

I think I saw something but I cannot tell.

I feel stupid asking this but, wth, are you 100% sure that the nozzle check is 100% good?
Under normal lightning and distance, do you remark the band, or does someone else see them?

lol, you sound like you think I'm crazy. yes, other people can see the banding, and overall, it still looks good. take a look at my first post with the pics. overall, the whole disc looks decent, but in the close up, you can see small faint lines that run horizontally across the picture. (not perfectly horizontal in the pic, but that's because of my scanning)

I don't know if this is still relevant with the modern Epsons but I still use an older model where banding can be quite prominent. I overcome this problem by tweaking some of the advanced 'Printer Features', particularly the 'Microweave' and 'Error diffusion' settings.

That's interesting, but I haven't been able to find these settings on my printer.

It looks like on the R300/R200 printers they didn't do a good job at setting the optimal distance between the printheads and the different types on media.

My thoughts exactly. I even told this to the tekkie on the phone with epson. He had no idea.

Disk not touching anything on the way through when being printed is it ?
Made sure you havent handled the front surface of the disk before printing small amounts of grease/sweat can affect prints.
Could also be a nozel alignment issue.

I have touched the surface of a disc before, and it looks bad, but not like this. These are definately not being manhandled.

I've tried realigning the print head many times, and it looks perfect, but it fixes vertical banding and not horizontal. Keep in mind that photos look perfect, it's only on discs that I get this problem.

Are you using the "premium CD/DVD" surface setting?

Have you tried applying Krylon Clear Acrylic to "bring out"
the color of the disc - while smoothing the appearance of
the ink.

I have used premium cd/dvd setting, but still a no go. I also use Krylon Clear Acrylic on many of my discs, and it looks good, but does not take away the faint lines.


Keep it coming guys. There has to be an answer out there.

[RickTheRed]

Gizmo,
The microweave option is there when I select "premium photo glossy paper" and then "photo RPM".
I have not tried with cd/dvds but I know I do it sometimes with Photos. It's much longer to print with the Microweave option.
Is there a way you can lower your discs?

[offline]

GizmoTheGremlin,

I think I had the exact same problem but it went away.
I have no idea what caused it and I was printing
on different media too. I changed no settings
or altered the printer in anyway to my knowledge.
One day it just vanished. The pin stipe was gone.
It could be a head issue.

[GizmoTheGremlin]

Great Results!! Problem Solved! (I think )

The microweave option seems to have worked. I was hesitant to print as a photo because it always cakes too much ink on the disc. But this worked perfectly! Takes ten years to print a disc, but I'm a patient man, and am willing to wait for great results. Not only that, but the blacks are blacker and the colors look better. All around a huge improvement.

I knew you guys would come through. Thanks to everyone for being such a great help.

Offline, i hope youre right and the problem will go away (i can print faster and still get good results). But in the meantime, i'll settle with printing slow.