The patch sheets now have been exposed to the environment for 4 weeks with sun, ozone, varying temperatures etc.
Previous assumptions and comments are getting confirmed that the longevity even of OEM inks varies very much between the ink types, similar to the Wilhelm Research test report of inks for tanksystem printers.
http://www.wilhelm-research.com/hp/WIR_Ink_Tank_Printer_Comparison.pdf
Wilhelm Research is calculating their results into a 'Display Permanence Rating' which allows comparison between their findings.
I'm using a data analysis tool by X-Rite in their i1Profiler package which let me compare the data of patch sheet scans taken at different times - in this case at 1 day as the starting point and at 1 week and 4 weeks again. This tool averages the Delta E color shifts without adding additional weight to the color or the magnitude of the shifts. There is no simple way for me to recalculate these numbers into some Display permanence ratings, I just can do relative comparisions which ink performs better after some time than another ink.
Color patches have been printed onto 2 diferent papers - a Canon premium glossy PT101 and a no-name 240g glossy paper - PE/RC type, both papers perform quite similar in this test run.
I'm testing the Canon GI-50, GI-51 and GI-53 bottled inks used with verious Megatank printer models, and I have inlcuded the HP GT-52 and HP31 inks used with some tank system printers but which are much less popular in Germany. The GT-52 ink is listed as well in the Wilhelm research report. The GI-53 ink the the Canon Chromalife 100 ink.
And the Epson 106 ink is used with the ET-7750, and I'm using it on the ET-8550 since it runs at a lower price in Germany than the 114 inks with very similar performance.
It is directly apparent that there are 2 groups of inks - slow and fast fading, the Canon inks GI-50 and GI-51 are very weak, whereas the the HP and Epson inks rate much better with a slight advantage of the Epson 106 in this test. The 106 ink reaches a value of 7,40 only after 4 weeks vs. one week by the GI-51 ink (7,27) .
It is a well kept secret by Canon that the majority of the Megatank printers run with pretty weak performing inks for the longevity, only the G550/650 models with the GI-53 inks stand out. I have not tested other Epson dye inks in this test run, but the bad situation is that most Epson inks are about as weak as the Canon inks - 664, 102 and more, and it's only the 106 and 114 inks for the premium Ecotank printers running with Claria like performance.
Both the HP31 and GT-52 inks perform very similar to the Epson 106 and GI-53 inks, HP delivers very good inks to their customers for all their tank system printers.
This test confirms my recommendations for Canon and for Epson users of tanksystem - Ecotank - Megatank printers to pick the best dye ink you can get for your printer - a Canon GI-53 ink is not much more expensive than a GI-50 ink - or a Epson 106 ink is not much more expensive than a 102 or 664 ink. Or look for the HP inks as an alternative (but you may need a color profile or some driver adjustments since the hues of the HP inks are somewhat different).
I have not tested any 3rd party dye inks at this time, I don't see a need for it , I have not seen any 3rd party ink over a long time which comes even close to the OEM inks in regards to longevity.
for your very special ink fade tests, now when MegaTank printer owners ask about better longevity, we have the answers here....
