Piezo inkjet printer is the top performer of high-resolution printing due to its unique performance advantages. According to a 2023 report released by Grand View Research, application of piezoelectric inkjet technology in the global industrial printing market accounts for 65%, with a compound annual growth rate exceeding 8%, and its primary strengths are demonstrated in printing accuracy, cost-effectiveness and material flexibility. Taking resolution as a case, the piezoelectric nozzle can support ultra-fine output up to 2880×1440 DPI, compared with hot bubble inkjet technology (up to 1200×1200 DPI), the ink titration bit error is less than ±1.5 microns, and the image edge sharpiness is improved by more than 30%. For example, Epson’s PrecisionCore series of piezo nozzles achieve a minimum drop volume of 3 picoliters (pL) through high-frequency drives 50,000 times per second, significantly reducing image graininess, a technological feature that enables prints to contain 98% detail reproduction at 600% magnification.
On the basis of operating cost studies, the life cycle cost of piezoelectric inkjet printers is 40% lower than laser printing machines. Its nozzle lifespan is 5-8 years (average print quantity 200 million pages), as opposed to hot-bubble nozzle lifespan of only 1-2 years, over $500 / unit in maintenance cost savings per year. Fujifilm’s DIMATIJ technology provides 0.05W/nozzle energy saving by maximizing drive voltage of piezoelectric ceramic element (±20V to ±60V), 35% less power than traditional solutions. Industrial industries, a printing and packaging company using KYOCERA’s KJ4B-YH nozzle, UV ink usage rate increased from 82% to 95%, a single device yearly material reduction loss of 1.2 tons, reducing direct carbon emission of 3.6 tons, in accordance with the EU REACH on volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions regulation mandatory standards.
In terms of material compatibility, piezoelectric technology supports a wide range of functional inks in the 1-30 cP viscosity range, including ceramic glazes, conductive silver pastes and biomedical coatings. Piezoelectric printhead in Stratasys’ PolyJet system offers 16-micron layer thickness precision in medical model production, eight times that of fused deposition (FDM) technology. In 2022, the P5 series piezoelectric devices launched by industrial printing giant Durst achieved a line speed of 60 meters per minute in glass decoration, and supported 8-color synchronous printing below 600×600 DPI, and the yield improved from 89% to 99.7%, and customers could shorten the order delivery cycle from 14 days to 72 hours. According to IDC statistics, piezoelectric inkjet technology wide-format printers will occupy 76% of the high-end image output market share in 2023, and monochrome ink coverage cost is $0.012 / sf lower than that of electrostatic imaging technology, which can save a company $720,000 in one year with a monthly average printing volume of 500,000 square meters.
Through the pace of technology evolution, piezoelectric inkjet patent counts will rise by 42% from 2020 through 2023, dwarfing other printing technologies. According to statistics reported by the U.S. Patent Office, 327 inventions related to piezo inkjet were sanctioned in 2022 alone for core technologies such as variable ink drop control and multi-band drive waveforms. Konica Minolta’s KM1024i nozzle is powered with 256 levels of grayscale to achieve a 0.1% color tolerance in textile printing, five times tighter than the standard industry tolerance. It must be noted that the 3D printing penetration rate of piezoelectric inkjet printers grows at a 15% average annual rate, and Nano Dimension’s DragonFly system uses this technology to print 10-micron electronic circuits with ±2% control over the resistance accuracy error, lowering the development cycle of 5G RF devices by 40%. These numbers confirm that piezoelectric inkjet technology cannot be replaced in the high resolution output market.