QualityLogic Ink Yield Test Report Kodak Easyshare 5300

Kodak wins Yield Test versus Price

ROCHESTER, N.Y., May 10 -- The proof is in: Consumers save most when they print with Kodak’s inkjet printers. Eastman Kodak Company (NYSE: EK) today unveiled ink yield test results and cost-per-page analyses, confirming Kodak’s claim that KODAK EASYSHARE All-in-One Printers’ premium, low-cost ink saves customers up to 50 percent on everything they print, compared to similar consumer inkjet printers.

Independent Testers Quality Logic

The company contracted with third-party testing lab QualityLogic Inc. to compare Kodak’s AIO printer ink yields to those of 12 other industry-leading printers. QualityLogic’s testing of black-and-white and color/text pages meets the recently released ISO standards for measuring ink cartridge yields.

Cost Per Page Analysis

From QualityLogic’s ink yield data, Kodak developed an ink cost-per-page analysis, comparing cost of ink and printer photo paper for all printer models tested. The analysis confirmed that in every case, Kodak EasyShare AIO printers offer consumers more pages for every $5 of ink purchased. Savings are based on printing of documents and photos, using average ink costs of comparable consumer inkjet printers.

Performance Results
“In the spirit of giving consumers the most information possible, we are fully disclosing performance results for all the printers tested and how costs-per-print were determined,” said Magnus Felke, product marketing director of Kodak’s Inkjet Systems Group. “Consumers are frustrated with how much they spend on ink, and how little they get for the ink they buy. Kodak continues to change the game by finally equipping consumers with the data they need to make an educated purchasing decision.”

QualityLogic tested the Kodak EasyShare 5300 All-in-One printer and competitive models for page yields using the ISO 24711, 24712 and 19752 standards for color and monochrome page yields, and their own methodology for photo yield. The page yields were then used by Kodak to determine cost-per-page findings

Executive Summary

QualityLogic Inc. has been a provider of leading-edge QA and QC test tools and services for the imaging and telecommunications industries for more than 20 years. Its tools and services are used for conformance, performance, interoperability, and competitive analysis testing – from low-level firmware testing to high-level multi-tier application testing. Its target markets are companies that develop and market printers, multifunction peripherals, telephony/IP products and services, and client-based/mobility software.

QualityLogic partners with leading technology firms and standards organizations to develop new and enhanced test solutions for emerging technologies. The following are some examples of QualityLogic affiliations and memberships:

Standards Organizations

International Committee for Information Technology Standards (INCITS)
Print On Demand Initiative (PODi)

Affiliations

PC Magazine
Computer Shopper
Microsoft Certified Partner and Authorized Test Partner
PMA – The Worldwide Community of Imaging Associations

Kodak has been a customer of QualityLogic’s for several years and uses several QualityLogic testing products to help validate its printing products. In the fall of 2006, Kodak approached QualityLogic with a request to perform a comparative test to validate the ink yield of its soon-to-be-released EASYSHARE All-in-One Printers.

QualityLogic is a member of ISO INCITS W1, the committee that developed the technically robust, consensus-driven international standard for measuring print cartridge yields. QualityLogic participated in the development of these standards and fully supports the standards that are approved for color ink and toner yield, monochrome ink yield, and monochrome toner yield. All but one of the companies whose printers were tested by QualityLogic for Kodak are also members of this committee.

The following are key provisions of these standards for inkjet and color toner cartridge yield (taken from the recent ISO press release announcing their approval of the standard):

• Standard test document suite: Use of a standard suite of five pages printed in a controlled environment with printer default settings.
• Number of cartridges tested: A minimum of nine of each cartridge is tested until they reach end of life, allowing reliable estimates of average predicted yield within statistically defined boundaries.
• Source for cartridges: Cartridges and printers used represent those available to customers on the open market.
• Clear, objective, end-of-life criteria: Determine cartridge yield using a well-defined end-of-life criterion.
• Number of printers: A minimum of three cartridge sets are tested on three different printers to avoid bias due to printer variability.
• Controlled environment: Printing environment is controlled and consistent because variations can affect yield.
• Objectivity: Because of worldwide and industry-wide participation, the testing criteria reflect objectivity in developing a reliable and rigorous standard

ISO/IEC 24711 was used for this test to measure both color ink yield using the ISO/IEC 24712 color test suite and monochrome ink yield using the ISO/IEC 19752 test suite.

ISO is currently working on a standard for measuring photo ink yield, which QualityLogic is following closely. In the interim, QualityLogic developed its own Color Photo Cartridge Yield Test Methodology, which closely follows the standards that have been released. This methodology has been used by QualityLogic for more than a year and was used for this test.

Several Model(s) of printers from various manufacturers were tested for comparative purposes

• Kodak EASYSHARE 5300
• Brother
  MFC-5460CN
• Canon
  PIXMA MP160PIXMA MP510PIXMA MP600PIXMA MP810
• Epson Stylus CX6000 Stylus Photo RX580
• HP Photosmart C3180Photosmart C4180Photosmart C5180
• Lexmark X3470X8350

Cartridges Tested

• Kodak 3J8965, 3J8966
• Brother LC51BK, LC51C, LC51M, LC51Y
• Canon PG-40, CL-41PGI-5, CLI-8C, CLI-8M, CLI-8YPGI-5, CLI-8C, CLI-8M, CLI-8Y, CLI-8BPGI-5, CLI-8C, CLI-8M, CLI-8Y, CLI-8B
• Epson T069120, T069220, T069320, T069420, T078120, T078220, T078320, T078420, T078520, T078620
• HP HP92, HP93, HP98 ,HP02 C8721, HP02 C8771, HP02 C8772, HP02 C8773, HP02 C8774, HP02 C8775
• Lexmark 18C078118C0032, 18C003233

Results