Comparative test: Canon Pixma iP100 vs. HP Officejet H470

von Florian Heise

übersetzt von Ulrich Junker

If you want to print out contracts and other documents at your customer´s residence, a mobile printer is a must. The two on the market are made by Canon and HP. Our lab takes a closer look at them.

Erschienen am 25. August 2010 bei Druckerchannel.de, 14 Seite(n)

https://www.druckerchannel.de/artikel.php?ID=2839

Quality of print: Graphics

DC-Grafiktest: dc_grafiktest.pdf.

Each contestant has to print a vector graphic in Coreldraw, A4 in size. The graphic contains various elements, which allow evaluation of print quality.

You can download a compressed JPG-version of this file in our download-area.

The file is printed in high quality mode on inkjet paper the manufacturer recommends.

Click on the pictures below to compare qualities.

Colored rays

Quality of printing can be assessed by looking at the colored rays (pictures below). The earlier the single lines merge, the more inaccurate is the printout. With some printers you will find annoying moiré.

Colored rays: In the test-file (left side) you find the colored rays (center). The inner part is scanned by our lab (right side).

Both mobiles print the fine lines in very good quality, Canon just a little bit better than HP.

Canon Pixma iP100: Prints colored rays in very good resolution and without moiré.

HP Officejet H470: More coarse than Canon, but still a good result.

Grey areas

Ink-jet printers generate greys by mixing the colors cyan, magenta, and yellow. This can result in unsightly tints.

Grey area: In the test-ile (left side) you find the grey area (center). A small part is scanned by our lab (right side).

Canon´s moblie turns out grey areas with a slight red tint. HP´s printer performs better.

Canon Pixma iP100: Slight red tint.

HP Officejet H470: Neutral grey.

Tiny fonts

Our lab scans the word "Druckerchannel", 2 points in size. We test, whether or not this word is printed readable.

Tiny font: In the testfile (left side) the word "Druckerchannel" is printed in different sizes (center). Our lab scans this word in 2-point size (0.5 millimeters in height).

Canon Pixma iP100: This very good result qualifies even for the "fine print" in contracts.

HP Officejet H470: Good result as well. Other printers often show unreadable characters.

Bleeding

DC-Test: dc_bleedtest.tif.

If adjacent colors bleed into each other, ink quality is poor.

To test this, our lab uses the file depicted to the right. Normal copy paper is used, with no change in the drivers.

The test file is ready for download here.

Both mobiles have no problem with bleeding.

Canon Pixma iP100: Adjacent colors do not bleed into each other, and not into the paper fibers as well.

HP Officejet H470: As good as Canon´s mobile.