|
Photo Speed/Timing (2.06)
The Canon iP1800 scored very low in our photo print speed tests. Inkjet photo printers are generally among the slowest of any class of printers. Of the three that we’ve tested, the iP1800 was the slowest, printing an average of one-third of a page per minute. The slower performance makes sense for a low-end printer, but this was well below all of the Canon printers that have been tested in our labs for 4" x 6" print scores. Larger sizes, such as 8.5" x 11" prints, printed even slower, taking about 5 minutes each.
We perform our speed tests using the highest quality setting, which is generally different than manufacturers’ methods.
|
Photo Print Speeds in Pages per Minute
|
|
|
4x6
|
8.5 x 11
|
13 x 19
|
|
|
sml
|
lge
|
sml
|
lge
|
sml
|
lge
|
|
Canon Pixma Pro9000
|
2.00
|
2.00
|
0.40
|
0.41
|
0.18
|
0.24
|
|
Epson Stylus Photo R2400
|
0.38
|
0.38
|
0.19
|
0.19
|
0.09
|
0.04
|
|
Canon Pixma iP1800
|
0.32
|
0.34
|
0.20
|
0.20
|
n/a
|
n/a
|
Color Accuracy (2.18)
The Pixma iP800 scored very low on our color accuracy test. This was disappointing for a Canon inkjet, but in the end, not surprising for a low-budget, two-cartridge, inkjet printer. Its delta E mean color error was quite high, at 9.86. Both Canon inkjet printers tested, the Canon Pixma MP600 all-in-one and the Canon Pixma Pro9000, yielded lower error values.
Color error is a measure of how far the printer’s representation of the color patches in the Gretag Macbeth Colorchecker chart strayed from the original values used to create the chart. The chart is a digital version which is then printed with the test printer, in this case, the iP800. We then calculate the average color error from all of the error from the sixteen color patches. A sample version (not one printed with the iP800) is shown below for reference.
Generally speaking, blues and greens had the most error, but skin tone color error values were high, too. Most colors were consistently lighter, or less saturated than the original chart.
Color Gamut (4.75)
Color gamut refers to the range of colors that a printer is capable of reproducing. We derived our scores for this test from a comparison with a known color space, Adobe RGB, which contains 1,225,088 colors. The number of colors our test printer reproduces is converted into a percentage of the Adobe RGB space. Most printers come within the 40th and 50th percentiles, and a printer achieving upwards of 70 percent is excellent, seen only in high-end photo printers.
The stock Canon printer profile for the iP1800 achieved a respectable score, representing 55 percent of the Adobe RGB space, a total of 676,268 colors. Aside from the high-end photo printers we've tested, namely the Epson R2400 and Canon Pro9500, this percentage was among the highest of the other printers to come thorough our labs. Most of the other Canon printers, aside from the compact dye sublimation models, scored in this range. The chart below displays the iP1800 profile as a three-dimensional color field within the Adobe RGB wire frame. The colors notably missing are the blues and greens along the edge of the frame. Although this was a very good gamut score, the poor color accuracy score means these colors might not be reproduced faithfully.
Dmax (3.57)
A good judge of both the ink quality and a printer’s ability to print a wide tonal range is the density of the blackest tone in a print. This value is known as dmax and is measured using a spectrophotometer, like the EyeOne Pro model from Gretag Macbeth that we use in our tests. The maximum value a printer can achieve is 2.50, and most high-end photo printers can typically achieve between 2.25 and 2.30.
Frankly, the iP1800 produced a very disappointing black, only registering a density of 1.78. This was achieved using the custom profile for Canon Photo Paper Pro Semi-gloss that we created in the lab using the Gretag Macbeth EyeOne Match software. The standard profile that Canon includes with the drivers produced a nearly identical value, at 1.77.
Black and White / Monochrome (4.00)
Our black and white test image printed with the iP1800 prominently revealed the weak black tones. Overall, the print was acceptable, but it was clearly deficient when placed alongside the original or a print from a better quality printer. Highlights and light tones had decent definition. Contrast was good, but shadows were blocked.
|
