Learn more about how to build an inkjet display panel printer with high precision.

1. 11th October 2019
iMiD Display Show 2019 Seoul, Korea
Essential modules to build an inkjet
display panel printer with high precision

2. Ceramic Tiles
Product
Decoration
Textiles Packaging
Functional & 3D
Labelling
Signs, Displays &
Decor
Our customers offer industrial systems in a wide range of markets
Display screens
and lighting

3. Our products drive all leading industrial inkjet printheads.

4. Opportunities for Printed Display screens
2019 continues to show strong growth in all Display sectors
OLED, P-OLED, Quantum Dot, Colour filter, Conductive inks and Semiconductor materials for Display screens can all be
deposited with high accuracy using Inkjet technologies.
The same scalable Inkjet printing process’ and materials can be used on flexible and rigid substrates with high productivity and
yield
Micro display
2019 $972m ^24.3%
2024 forecast $3.3b
Cell phone, tablets and televisions
2019 $137b ^4%
2024 forecast $167b

5. Print schemes for Displays
• Positioning of droplets and control of volume is key to display
performance.
• Accurate reproduction of features is key to any inkjet process,
within an electrical device either Pixels, conductive tracks or
transistors.
• Managing drop size, positioning, surface wetting, and drying
effects through inkjet process and material formulation

6. Meteor Electronics
• Modular architecture for scalable implementation
from prototype through to production
• Any number of printheads, any number of fluids
• Off-the-shelf, production-ready components
• Products which thoroughly support the unique
capabilities of each printhead type
• High performance to meet the requirements of
demanding applications
USB or GbitE

7. Typical digital inkjet printer architecture

8. scanning printer terms

9. Meteor Software
• Ready-to-use application software with
customisable user interfaces for ceramics,
textiles, 3D printing and more
• Software Development Kits to build scanning
or single pass printers from the ground up
• Access to full printhead functionality and
waveform development capability
• Works with any RIP or use the optional built-
in Global Graphics Software Harlequin® RIP
• Optional integrated screening capability

10. Software
▪ MetScan2.0
• Customisable Digital Front End / Graphic User Interface
▪ eLab RIP
• Image files rendering , half-toning, multi-level screening
▪ Screen Pro
• Print quality optimisation for different substrates
▪ PrintFlat
• Cross web uniformity improvement
▪ Nozzle out compensation
• Production yield improvement

11. MetScan2.0 DFE sophisticated Printing Workflow

12. Screen Pro
Irregular drop positioning
leads to drops ‘randomly’
coalescing on the media:
These microscopic effects
cause visible artefacts, often
described as mottling or
streaking/lining.
Poor for graphic arts but can
be harnessed for functional
device printing
Synthetic image with exaggerated artefacts in order to be visible on a
projector, or reproduced on another print process

13. What causes non-uniformity?
▪ Variation within a head
• Commonly a ‘smile’ shape
• Caused by manufacturing variance, pressure, voltage and fluid response
▪ Variation between heads
• Especially as heads become field replaceable
▪ Head wear
Density
ONE HEAD

14. PrintFlat
▪ Improved screening takes away
noise that masks other effects
• So now we have to fix those!
▪ Non-uniformity across the web
is the next project
Both uncorrected
Original
Blurred to make the density variation more obvious

15. Much better to do this in software
▪ Very fine granularity
• Can address every nozzle separately
• On any head/electronics
▪ Almost instant once output is measured
• Can be automated for closed-loop correction
▪ Doesn’t affect
• Jetting stability or head lifetime
• Warranty compliance
• Ink pressure and timing/drop speed variation
• Ink coalescence on the substrate
• Halftoning
Corrected in software
Original
Blurred
Original
Blurred
Uncorrected

16. Nozzle out compensation

17. ▪We can now build an inkjet display panel
printer, but how to:
•improve its ink drop placement accuracy
•& hence printer production yield?
▪Answer:
•An optimized system of
Printhead:Waveform:Fluid:Substrate

18. What is an Inkjet waveform
The amplitude and duration of each segment of the waveform influences the pressure pulse generated within the
nozzle chamber resulting in ejection of one of more droplets.
The efficiency of the waveform is determined both by printhead architecture and by the properties of the ink with
solvent composition, solids content and viscosity influencing the acoustic response.

19. What parameters are critical to quality and needed by display
printing applications
❑Drop size
❑Grey Scale or Binary
❑Drop size(s) and volume determine film thickness and
device performance
❑Drop Velocity
❑Expected throw distance
❑Drop placement accuracy
❑ Elimination of Satellites
❑ Productivity
❑ Reliability
Waveform Development

20. The straighter and faster the drops fly, the larger the
distance between the printhead and media (stand off) can be
and still get good image quality.
Image Quality Drop Shape, Volume, Speed and accuracy

21. Waveform influence on drop formation
Ligament length 250um
Distance to drop coalesance
600um

22. Waveform influence on drop formation
Reduced voltage
Reduces drop velocity
Ligament length 100um
Distance to drop coalesance 200um

23. Using double synchronised strobes to observe droplets in flight, freezing drops in two positions in
flight to measure Velocity, volume and trajectory
Waveform influence on waveform performance

24. Real time drop Adjustment

25. Building GreyScale

26. Maximum firing frequency
❑ lowest of
❑maximum frequency at which the head produces good drops using your ink
❑ speed of scanning carriage, web or object to print onto
❑maximum frequency for size of drop you need (Grey Scale waveform)
❑resonances
Productivity

27. ❑Reliability
❑ how long before you loose one or more nozzles? (minutes printing, minutes
resting)
❑Mechanism?
❑Wetting of nozzle plate
❑Air ingestion
❑Blocked nozzle
❑how recoverable is a missing of deviating nozzle?
❑ Latency
❑How long can you pause production
❑What if any impact of gaps between images.
❑Does the print have the same quality in the leading edge as the rest of the image
Reliability

28. Summary
❑How can Meteor help you get to market with an Inkjet process??
❑Drive electronics and software
❑RIP and Screening tools
❑DropWatching equipment and training
❑Waveform development services

29. Meteor Tools & Services
• Meteor designed and manufactured
DropWatchers for evaluating and optimising
printhead and ink combinations
• Waveform development services
• Developing customised waveforms to suit
customers’ specific fluid & printheads

30. Why choose Meteor?
Flexible, scalable, customisable solutions for any application
Reliable, robust, production-ready products
Long-term, proven product supply
Established relationships with printhead manufacturers
World-wide, responsive sales and technical support
Low risk integration and speed to market

31. Meteor Partnerships
Recognizing the enormous and growing opportunity for industrial inkjet in Korea, Meteor is pleased to announce the
selection of Meson as its Korean distributor.
About Meson
Located in Hwaseong City, South Korea, Meson Co., Ltd (www.meson.co.kr) is a specialist industrial inkjet distributor
and integrator. Established in 2004, Meson has extensive experience in the import and export of inks, hardware and
software.
Meson’s Sales Director, Chang-yong Yoon (chang.yoon@meteorinkjet.com) invites customers to meet him on
Meteor’s stand at the upcoming iMiD 2019 Korea Display Exhibition in Seoul, 8-11 October 2019. At this event,
Meteor will showcase state-of-the-art electronics to drive all major industrial inkjet printheads, extensive software
for any industrial inkjet application and powerful tools and services for ink characterisation, print reliability analysis
and printhead evaluation.

32. enquiries@meteorinkjet.com
+44 34 5844 0012
www.meteorinkjet.com
www.linkedin.com/company/meteor-inkjet
@Meteor_Inkjet