Xaar Celebrates 20 Years of the Xaar 128 Printhead

UK-based industrial inkjet printhead manufacturer Xaar announces its celebration of the 20 anniversary of the release of its Xaar 128 printhead.

According to the company, the 128 was originally designed for use in desktop fax machines, but the company quickly discovered that it would be better suited to other applications giving its combination of reliability, ease of integration, and its speed and the quality of output. Hence, it was adopted by the wide-format and coding and marking markets.

“Launched in 1999, the Xaar 128 was the driving force behind the first industrial inkjet revolution in wide-format graphics,” the company wrote in its announcement of the anniversary. “Its compact footprint and light carriage weight of only 16 grams, combined with its simple electronic interface, enables quick and easy integration into printers by OEMs.”

There are now more than 1.5 million Xaar 128 printheads in use around the world. To celebrate the anniversary, Xaar had a birthday cake at its Huntingdon, UK, facility, where the 128 is manufactured.

“The longevity of the Xaar 128 and its relevance in today’s market is testament to the cutting-edge technology it deployed 20 years ago,” says Graham Tweedale, chief operations officer at Xaar. “The fact that we are celebrating its birthday and even seeing new applications is a real source of pride for us and demonstrates the impact of Xaar’s investment and lead in industrial inkjet technologies.”