CTP--The Digital DRUPA

The Bottom Line
The overall manufacturing cost for a thermal processless-plate imaging system is less than the combination of a visible-light (blue-violet laser) imaging system and plate processor. The cost of the plate processor alone exceeds the cost difference between a thermal-imaging system and a blue-violet laser imaging system. As a percentage of the overall cost to produce a thermal CTP system, the cost of the laser diode is negligible.