what do you think about Violet CtP vs Thermal CtP

[nshadab]

Which one is better?

Provided, we need to have
QUALITY + SPEED + COST EFFECTIVE (running)

[BillJ]

Which is better vanilla, chocolate, or strawberry? It all depends on your needs. Violet plates fall into 2 categories, silver and photopolymer. Violet CTP devices cost less than thermal because they have much simpler optics. Silver plates give the highest resolution because it is a true photographic emulsion, but it is the most time consuming in day to day maintenance. Photo polymer are similar to a traditional analog emulsion but are somewhat sensitive to handling and storage conditions. Thermal systems offer low and no process plates but the the CTP devices have complicated optics that can be expensive to repair. There are also now low process violet photopolymer plates available.

The easiest question is which of these systems are readily available in you area as far as sales, service and technical support? Also what type of work are you doing? These questions need to be asked before looking at the other issues.

[Marko]

Hated the processor on our Violet CTP device. I found without constant maintenance I could not get a good consistent dot.

I was up to breaking the processor down every 2 weeks and doing a full cleaning.

I hated the purple chemistry we used from Heidelberg. I still have purple spots on my walls and floors along with a number of shirts ruined.

I know it was traditionally cheap but you get what you pay for.

[MacTwidget]

Violet: CtP devices are generally have MUCH faster throughput than thermal. Uses a lot more chemistry than thermal.

Thermal: CtP devices generally slower than violet. Uses less chemistry, but maintaining a consistent developer conductivity (pH) is critical.

The speed of Thermal devices are getting faster and faster, but Violet still wins the race.

For high quality work, I would still recommend Thermal. In my experience I can consistently hold a 0.5% dot all the way to 99.5%.
With Violet, you're good for 2% through 98%. Although there are exceptions based on the device and plate being used.

Both types have their place.
IMO, Thermal for high quality, critical work. Violet for high volume.

[maxon]

Marko,

Venting your anger here won't help anyone. I would love to learn what model/make are your platesetter and plate processor and what type of plate are you taking about. Is it photopolymer or silver ? Have you bought these machines new or used ? Have they been serviced properly ?
... Breaking the processor down every two weeks for cleaning looks like a really cheap machine from some obscure manufacturer, or perhaps you didn't receive adequate support from your supplier or service provider.

[Sev]

Marko,

Venting your anger here won't help anyone. I would love to learn what model/make are your platesetter and plate processor and what type of plate are you taking about. Is it photopolymer or silver ? Have you bought these machines new or used ? Have they been serviced properly ?
... Breaking the processor down every two weeks for cleaning looks like a really cheap machine from some obscure manufacturer, or perhaps you didn't receive adequate support from your supplier or service provider.

We run Agfa violet LAPV silver plates, with an AGFA Palladio platesetter and an AGFA LP 68 Ultra processor, and it does require very high maintenance. About every two weeks the Maintenance Required message shows up on the control panel. At that point, the plates are harder to roll up on press, and the heating element in the finisher tanks gets too covered with purple sludge to work properly. On the average it takes two people about 2.5 hours for the maintenance. The end results is a very good plate. We have never worn a plate out as of yet. The plates will easily hold a one percent and a ninety nine percent dot. However, our vendor can no longer supply us with AGFA products. If we have to get new equipment, it will probably not be for silver-based plates, due to the maintenance and chemistry usage.
Just my 3 cents worth (inflation)

-Sev

[VladCanada]

... and the price of Silver (as well as Alu) at stock-market still grows and grows.

[Marko]

Marko,

Venting your anger here won't help anyone. I would love to learn what model/make are your platesetter and plate processor and what type of plate are you taking about. Is it photopolymer or silver ? Have you bought these machines new or used ? Have they been serviced properly ?
... Breaking the processor down every two weeks for cleaning looks like a really cheap machine from some obscure manufacturer, or perhaps you didn't receive adequate support from your supplier or service provider.

Just my opinion-not venting anger (that would have included a few curses)-we switched from violet to thermal and have been very happy.

As far as the vendor it is/was Hedielbergs violet plates so I'm not sure I'd call it cheap machine. As far as the plate I believe it was a rebranded Agfa plate.

Too make matters worse, I was having the same issues and maintenance when I worked for Heidelberg in the demo center (Kennesaw GA) so I'm pretty sure we got good service.

[ansoft]

Violet or Thermal? This is the question!
I think that photopolymer plates are much more stable than thermal plates. I mean as exposing and developing. There are only 4 manufacturers-Kodak, Agfa, Fuji and IBF. All of them have plates for commercial and newspaper. In the thermal field you have Chinese, Thai and other suspicious manufacturers with non-constant quality. If you use the big manufacturer- Yes you have very good plates.
For 175lpi@2400dpi (2540dpi) the throughput of violet ctp is slightly bigger than the thermal ctp.
But finally if you know what you want, you will get the right ctp!

[nshadab]

Thanks for all your comments, really after reading those, i realized how less i knew about these systems. You guys are really great.

Our company main concern with HIGH VOLUME, and with low running cost....
let say we want to run this machine for 16 hours/day.

what service (maintenance) is required...as some of you said, VIOLET requires a service after every 2 weeks? is that correct....

this is to mention we are planning to buy a brand new...