CTP--What's New In Blue?

At this point, we feel it is still too far away to predict exactly how this technology will impact the computer-to-plate movement in the United States.

Optimizing Plates
Steve Musselman, U.S. business development manager, Agfa: We are very closely studying blue (I prefer to say violet) laser diodes and their eventual impact on the CTP marketplace. At present, Agfa's Lithostar Plus blue-laser sensitive plate lends itself well to this technology, and I hear that it works very well on the Escher-Grad Cobalt 8. Leading up to DRUPA 2000, Agfa will most likely optimize its Lithostar plate to be targeted for use with these new violet laser diodes. This is not a tremendous leap for a plate manufacturer such as Agfa, since we already have Lithostar plates optimized for existing red, green and blue lasers.