The new Sonora XP plate is much faster than the original Thermal Direct. Thermal Direct worked great on Kodak/Creo systems because the power density of our heads is much higher (similar power, but concentrated in a much smaller, focused area). TD was too slow on SupraSetters and some Screen units because their power density was too low - i.e. they weren't able to heat the emulsion up fast enough to a high enough temperature to fully cross-link the polymers.
Sonora XP fixes that because it needs about half the energy of TD. You now get full throughput on all but the fastest Kodak/Creo devices, and most of the mid-range competitive devices. You also get better visual contrast, and less sensitivity to long-duration white light exposure.
As far as the fear of press contamination goes, we have thousands of printers globally using this technology, and it has been proven beyond doubt that it's not an issue. The coating doesn't dissolve into the fount, but instead is pulled off the plate by the ink tack and deposited on the blanket - where it comes out of the press on the first 3-5 sheets of paper. Those stories are pure FUD ("Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt") marketed by our competitors... whom actually tried and failed with similar technology for exactly those reasons (remember Thermolite anyone... there's a reason Azura has a cleanout unit and chemistry in the first place!). We learned from that, and took a different approach to ensure it didn't happen for us.
As they say, the "haters be hatin' ", but we have thousands of printers that are enjoying the financial, quality, and environmental benefits of totally eliminating the equipment, chemistry, and chemical variability of processing and "cleaning out" of plates.
Kevin.
