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Introduction

Why is it necessary to have page yield standards?!

Page yield describes the estimated number of pages that can be printed with a particular print cartridge.

Historically, manufacturers of printers and multifunctional products (MFPs), including Ricoh, developed their own methods for determining cartridge yields.

The costs of consumables, such as toner or ink cartridges, are a considerable part of the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) and Cost Per Page (CPP) for printing devices. Nowadays, these costs play an increasingly important role in the purchase decision for such devices. Comparing the yield of toner/ink cartridges is, therefore, an important consideration within this decision.

Differing test methodologies, however, made it difficult to objectively compare products from competing manufacturers. Standards were, therefore, necessary to enable customers to perform such comparisons.

This document explains:

• why there are (ISO/IEC) standards for cartridge page yield;

• the purpose of these ISO/IEC stated ink/toner cartridge yields which are designed for comparing the yield between manufacturers, not to predict actual yield;

• how ISO/IEC tests are conducted;

• which factors influence actual toner/ink cartridge compared to officially stated yield;

• that Ricoh offers transparent all-in contracts that move the risk from the customer to the manufacturer.

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The standards: ISO and IEC

ISO (International Organization for Standardization, located in Geneva, Switzerland) is a non-governmental developer and publisher of international standards.

The IEC (International Electrotechnical Commission) is an international standards organisation that prepares and publishes international standards for electrical, electronic and related technologies.

The ISO collaborates on all matters of electrotechnical standardization with the IEC.

The ISO and IEC have developed standards for measuring the cartridge yield of:

• monochrome (B/W) toner devices

• colour toner devices

• inkjet devices

Ricoh has adopted these standards.

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ISO/IEC Consumable Yield Standards (order changed)

ISO/IEC toner/ink cartridge Yield Standards

ISO/IEC 19752 (introduced in 2004) is originally described as:

“Method for the determination of toner cartridge yield for monochromatic (B/W) electrophotographic printers and multi-function devices that contain printer components.”

ISO/IEC 19798 (introduced in 2006) is originally described as:

“Method for the determination of toner cartridge yield for colour printers and multi-function devices that contain printer components.”

ISO/IEC 24711 (introduced in 2006) is originally described as:

“Method for the determination of ink cartridge yield for colour inkjet printers and multi-function devices that contain printer components.”

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How do the tests work?

It is important to understand that the whole test process is done in a controlled and strictly described way. The purpose of following this strict process is to make the test repeatable and thus to make results objective and comparable.

ISO/IEC Test parameters and conditions

Toner coverage, defined as the percentage of the page containing toner, is an important factor for measuring the yield of a cartridge.

Research has shown that the average coverage for B/W pages is 5% with little fluctuation. In fact, the majority varies from 4 to 5%.

In the test procedure for B/W cartridges (ISO/IEC 19752) a standard test page is used. The toner coverage of this page is 5%.

This page is continuously printed until the cartridge reaches its end of life.

Pages are printed in a semi-continuous print mode, pausing only for paper replenishment.

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Colour test pages

Colour printing typically involves a higher average page coverage, with higher fluctuations.Therefore, a set of five different “standard” pages is used for ISO/ IEC 19798 and 24711 tests.

The pages:

• consist of four “customer” type documents and one “diagnostic” page that is used to determine the end of ink or toner consumable life.

• are a mix of text, graphics, black and colour and contain different amounts of coverage.

• represent approximately 20% coverage (approximately 5% each for black and the three colours - cyan, magenta, and yellow).

• are to be printed as a set, continuously and in sequence until the cartridge reaches its end of life.

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Printers/MFPs and cartridges

Each ISO/IEC ink/toner yield test is performed using a minimum of three devices and a minimum of three cartridges per colour, per device.

For newly developed devices, cartridges are sourced from the manufacturer itself and from different production batches. For existing devices, cartridges are obtained from the marketplace from multiple sources.

Testing nine samples of each cartridge produces the lowest predicted yield estimates with 90% statistical significance.

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Environmental conditions

Device setupPrinters and MFPs are set up according to the manufacturer’s instructions using default (machine and driver) settings, set by the manufacturer.

New devices run through one complete toner cartridge before starting the test.

Environmental conditions

Testing is done in an environment where temperature and humidity can be maintained within acceptable parameters:

Temperature range: 23°C ± 2°C (73°F ± 4°F)Humidity range: 50% ± 10% RH (Relative Humidity)

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"Toner Out" conditions

Most printers and MFPs are equipped with a “Toner End” function that, when reached, ends the print process.

If the manufacturer recommends shaking the toner cartridge, this is done at “Toner End” but no more than two times. After the second time, the cartridge is replaced with a new one.

If fading bars appear after shaking the cartridge, but before a new “Toner End” message is displayed, the cartridge is replaced with a new one.

In case a device does not stop at “Toner End”, the cartridge is replaced as soon as fading bars appears on the paper.

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Page yield in the real world

Evidently, ISO/IEC cartridge yield testing is done in a highly controlled manner. In practice users are not likely to replicate the same conditions in their own office or workplace.

The ISO/IEC yield test is done while continuously printing. In reality the biggest print jobs cannot be compared with this testing method. In addition, printers and MFPs may not always use the default settings as required by the ISO/IEC cartridge yield test standards.

As a result, the actual page yields can vary considerably depending upon a variety of factors.

Over the next few pages we describe which factors can and will influence the use of toner and ink cartridges, resulting in a lower or higher yield vs the stated yield.

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Page Coverage

Page coverage is, by far, the factor that has the greatest impact on ink/toner consumption and thus on the yield.

As explained previously, industry research has shown that the average page coverage for a monochrome (B/W) page is between 4 and 5%.

Colour documents typically involve higher coverage levels with many more fluctuations.

The actual coverage of a customer’s documents is fluctuating constantly.

Not all ink/toner will end up, however, on a sheet of paper.

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Pages per Job

At the start-up (1) and shutdown (2) phase of a print cycle, most devices perform some checks to, among other things, maintain image density. These checks also involve some ink/toner usage.

Hence, printing single-page documents will on average consume more toner than printing multi-page documents, as this requires more start-up and shutdown cycles.

The “Pages per Job” is the second biggest factor that has an influence on the yield of the ink/toner cartridge. In “actual use”, the pages per job are constantly fluctuating.

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Paper Path

Similarly, the length of the paper path also affects the ink/toner yield: the longer the paper path, the longer the time the print engine is running.

During the ISO/IEC yield test, the default paper tray and default output tray is used. In “actual use” another paper tray, further away from the print engine, might be selected.

When double-sided printing, stapling and/or punching is required (finisher) the paper path is also extended.

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Device idle time

Some devices will ‘cycle’ or ‘jog’ at pre-set intervals when idle to maintain cartridge quality and prevent toner clocking. Although the number of jogs is kept to a minimum, it may result in a small loss of toner.

As a consequence, devices powered on for long periods of time without printing can lead to a reduced amount of toner available for printing.

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Environmental conditions and calibration

Changing environmental conditions (temperature and humidity) can affect print cartridge yield.

Frequent humidity changes increase the need for more system checks (calibration and image density) in order to maintain the image quality and consistency. During such checks, toner is consumed.

The frequency of these checks varies by printer/MFP model.

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Cartridge handling at end of life

Toner might stick to the housing of the cartridge. To redistribute the toner within the cartridge and ensure maximum cartridge life is achieved, it is advised to shake the cartridge when “toner low” is reported or when prints begins to fade.

If this recommended step is not performed and you simply replace the cartridge at the initial toner low signal, a (significant) amount of toner that still remains in the cartridge may be discarded. The chosen moment to shake the cartridge (immediately after notification or when visible on paper) obviously also has an impact.

The amount of toner left in the cartridge when “toner low” is indicated varies per printer/MFP.

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Print quality settings

Print settings (either at the printer driver or at the device’s operation panel) can also have an impact on the cartridge’s yield.

Many devices offer a ‘Draft’ or ‘Toner Saving’ mode; reducing toner consumption, which increases the toner yield.

Moreover, devices offer users the option to select the preferred method of reproducing grey, by either using only black toner (K) or a combination of cyan, magenta, yellow and black (CMY+K) toner. The combination (CMY+K) consumes most toner, but results in a higher quality.

During the ISO/IEC yield test, only the default driver settings are used.

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Page yield factors for inkjet (Geljet)

Next to toner cartridge specific yield factors there are also factors that have a particular impact on the yield for inkjet printers.

As with toner cartridge yield, page coverage is an obvious factor with an impact on inkjet (Geljet) cartridge yield.

Note:Geljet is Ricoh’s proprietary and relatively new technology that works similarly to traditional inkjet. The technology has two main benefits over traditional inkjet:- The ink (gel) used by Ricoh is waterproof and also UV-proof. This means images do not fade due to humidity or exposure to direct or indirect (sun)light, which makes it possible to use the images for much longer than with most traditional inkjet printers.

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Printhead cleaning

A typical characteristic of an inkjet device is the printhead cleaning process.

This process prevents the ink from drying inside the printhead (clocking) and prevents a premature replacement. During this process, ink is flushed through the printhead nozzles.

Frequent printing helps to ensure the correct flow of ink through the printhead, reducing the frequency of the printhead cleaning process. If the job frequency is low, more printhead cleaning processes are performed between print jobs, consuming ink, lowering the ink yield.

The frequency of these checks varies by device and may be activated manually.

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Paper type selection

Print quality settings for an inkjet device have a much bigger influence on the ink yield than similar settings for a toner-based device.

When “upping” the print quality settings on an inkjet device, you will increase the print resolution. To achieve this, the printhead requires more passes. Though this can (significantly) increase image quality, it also increases ink consumption, thereby lowering the ink yield, as well as print speed.

In our Geljet devices the combination of selected print quality and paper type will change the print resolution between 900×150 dpi up to 3,600×1,200 dpi.

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Conclusion

ISO/IEC page yield standards will help to make better informed purchase decisions by objectively and accurately evaluating toner and print cartridge yields.

It is important to note that ISO/IEC yield standards are designed to compare the yield between manufacturers, but it will not predict the actual customer usage.

The actual toner coverage of the customer’s documents, as well as the number of pages per job fluctuates constantly. Hence, it can never be used to predict the actual yield at the customer site.

It is also important to note that all of the mentioned factors influencing toner/ink yield apply to all printers and MFPs. Other manufacturers are also sharing this information.

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All-in click contracts

As described in this document, many factors affect real printing costs, making it difficult for customers to predict the actual Cost Per Page.

Counteracting this uncertainty, Ricoh offers an attractive alternative for most models: all-in click contracts.

All-in click contracts offer a fixed price per page. The print behaviour of users is of no relevance with these contracts, moving the risk from the customer to the manufacturer. This alternative can be very beneficial for a customer. As not all printer manufacturers offer all-in click contracts, Ricoh has a leading position.

Questions:If, after reading this document, you have any questions about the toner, ink or gel consumption of your current device, please feel free to contact Ricoh. Our employees are also more than willing to discuss with you the alternatives that Ricoh offers for most of our printers and MFPs via all-in contracts.

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