BACKGROUND PAPER ON PRINTERS: CONSEQUENCES OF THE PROPOSALS FOR IMAGING EQUIPMENT

Transcription

1 18 October 2011 BACKGROUND PAPER ON PRINTERS: CONSEQUENCES OF THE PROPOSALS FOR IMAGING EQUIPMENT Imaging equipment (printers, copiers, and multifunctional devices) is available in a wide variety of product types for a wide variety of applications. Looking at the household and office market, there is a range of products from personal printers (for use at home, either privately or in the home office), office desktop printers, office workgroup printers to engineering office printers (large format). Fig.1 From individual printing equipments to large format plotters through workgroup printing As argued before, for imaging equipment the currently achieved power levels in the sleep mode (the mode with network standby) depend on the rated power (i.e. the typical power level during full operation), officially named Power Supply Output Rating (PSOR). The following three charts will demonstrate this dependence and will show why the current proposals from the Commission need to be adapted. Data for the pictures was provided by a number of imaging equipment manufacturers and cover over 500 different models that are representative for the current imaging equipment market in the EU. The below graphs show the distribution of sleep power levels for imaging products with a PSOR less than 400 W and with a PSOR more than 400W, and the impact the proposed Tier 1 power levels would have on these products. The horizontal axis shows power consumption in sleep mode in Watt. Vertically, the cumulative percentage of products meeting this power limit is shown - for example, for the 4W sleep mode level, the number of products having less than 4W sleep mode power consumption are shown as a percentage of the total number of products; this data point is plotted at 4W on the horizontal axis, while the cumulative percentage is shown on the vertical axis. The first graph shows the distribution of sleep power levels for imaging equipment with a low PSOR. DIGITALEUROPE aisbl Rue Joseph II, 20 >> B-1000 Brussels [Belgium] T >> F >> 1 of 6

2 This represents imaging equipment used for desktop applications, mostly based on inkjet technology but also includes some EP 1 printers and multi-functions. The graph shows that such products generally have sleep mode levels that are in line with the proposed power level requirements for network standby. The minority of products that does not meet the proposed levels need to be replaced or redesigned. Distribution of sleep power: imaging equipment with PSOR < 400W 100% 80% 60% 40% 20% 80% meets Tier 1 power limit 4W: Proposed Tier 1 power limit 20% does NOT meet Tier 1 power limits = needs to be replaced 0% sleep power [W] Figure 2: Distribution of sleep power with PSOR < 400W Though the products with PSOR < 400 W represent a large percentage (approximately 2/3) of the number of products sold on the market, they are certainly not representative for all imaging products in terms of applications and technology. Many products with higher PSOR than 400W are available on the market (about one third of the number of products sold). These products are generally products with higher printing speed, and typically these printers and MFDs as used in offices for workgroups, and in copy shops, as well as large format printers are used in technical environments (construction, manufacturing, design). The below graph shows the distribution of sleep power levels for imaging products with a PSOR > 400W and the impact the proposed tier 1 power levels would have on these products. The graph clearly shows that the currently proposed tier 1 power levels would immediately ban or require redesign of 75% of these types of products - all products to the right of the yellow line (4W) within 18 months after publication of the proposed regulation. As a redesign is simply impossible within 18 months, the consequence of the proposed power levels would be that imaging equipment for office and technical applications would not be widely available in the EU anymore. This is not just a disproportionate burden for the imaging equipment industry it would mean that the efficiency of office workers will be significantly reduced. 1 EP : electrophotography marking technology including laser, LED and LCD illumination >> 2 of 6

3 More Distribution of sleep power: imaging equipment with PSOR > 400W 4W: Proposed Tier 1 power limit 100% 80% 60% 25% meets Tier 1 power limit 40% 20% 75% does NOT meet Tier 1 power limits = ban from market 0% sleep power [W] Figure 3: Distribution of sleep power with PSOR > 400W From the above graph, it can be seen that currently 80% of the products meet a 13W power limit in sleep mode. Due to the ENERGY STAR program, that has been seen to be very effective in driving energy efficiency of office equipment, the number of products meeting this limit will increase over the coming 4 years despite of the long design cycles and lifetime for these products. A network standby power level of 13W, to enter into force in 2015 for these products would be supportive and consistent with the ambition of the ENERGY STAR program, stimulating innovation for the more productive types of imaging equipment. One may wonder why one type of printer can achieve the proposed power limits while other types cannot. The answer has been summarized in the DIGITALEUROPE position paper sent to the Commission in reply to the draft implementing measure. In short, power supply losses and functions to enable sufficiently fast wake-up are responsible for the power levels. Both advanced power supplies and advanced control systems will become more generally available over the coming 5 years, resulting in lower sleep levels. LARGE FORMAT PRINTERS Among equipment with a PSOR > 400W large format printers are a special product category. Large format printers evolved from the standard format printer for professional use - mainly for industries with applications for 2D CAD line drawing i.e. architectural, engineering, MCAD and construction industries. They utilize the same printing technology as professional inkjet printers. But due to the fact they have to handle very large drawing or photo files they require an embedded computing capability. They also have to transport and precisely position media of all kinds in extra-large sizes from A0 format to paper rolls. They are also capable to receive print jobs from all kinds of LAN or wireless connected terminals. >> 3 of 6

4 As they are, by essence, purely professional equipment, their product lifetime is also the longest in the imaging equipment category. The following chart shows that currently 80% of the equipment meets a 15W power limit in sleep mode. A network standby power level of 15W, to enter into force in 2015 for these products would be supportive and consistent with the ambition of the ENERGY STAR program Fig. 4 Distribution of sleep power for large format printers TIER 2 LEVELS In order to consider Tier 2 power levels for imaging equipment, one needs to think of the technology that will be available 3-5 years after publication of the proposed regulation. While existing products in the market can be used as the benchmark (e.g. personal computers), it is not appropriate to generalize specific examples of very energy efficient products to all products on the network. For imaging equipment, a number of specific functions are present that require power even during network standby modes, especially to ensure a reactivation behavior that is acceptable for the user: - Apart from the operating system software that has to be reactivated (similar as in a PC), the printer engine paper transport functions and the printing functions have to be initialized. While such units are currently often being controlled by separate processors, this means that more functions are consuming power in a sleeping printer than in a sleeping PC. Reducing all these components into a single processor is not feasible for the next decade, meaning that even for Tier 2 of the regulation more >> 4 of 6

5 power is needed than the proposed 2W. Based on discussions with engineering teams, we feel confident that a power level of 3W can be achieved in sleep mode for products that have PSOR <400W, after 6 years from now, i.e. the beginning of For products having a PSOR > 400W, where we proposed a power level of at least 13W for Tier1, we are confident that a reduction to 10W after 6 years from now, i.e. the beginning of For large format printers, where we proposed a power level of at least 15W for Tier1, we consider as workable a reduction also to 10W after 6 years from now. The costs of these redesigns are hard to estimate. Conservative scenarios show, that for each affected product, a design, engineering and testing team will have to work for most of the announced 6 years. Assuming that the real investments will be done after publication of the regulation in the OJ, this would mean that an investment of 2-5 million EUR per product would be needed. In addition, there will be an initial increase in price of the products, due to the use of new components in a broad range of products (new components are usually piloted in a few products before production is increase to full scale). Realizing that the annual sales of imaging equipment is approximately 25 million units in the EU, made up of approximately 700 different models by some 20 manufacturers, the proposed redesign still would place a significant burden upon industry, raising costs to such an extent that customers will notice a change in the trend of decreasing shop prices for imaging products. >> 5 of 6

6 ABOUT DIGITALEUROPE DIGITALEUROPE is the voice of the European digital economy including information and communication technologies and consumer electronics. DIGITALEUROPE is dedicated to improving the business environment for the European digital technology industry and to promoting our sector s contribution to economic growth and social progress in the European Union. DIGITALEUROPE ensures industry participation in the development and implementation of EU policies. DIGITALEUROPE s members include 61 global corporations and 37 national trade associations from across Europe. In total, 10,000 companies employing two million citizens and generating 1 trillion in revenues. Our website provides further information on our recent news and activities: THE MEMBERSHIP OF DIGITALEUROPE COMPANY MEMBERS: Acer, Alcatel-Lucent, AMD, APC by Schneider Electric, Apple, Bang & Olufsen, BenQ Europa BV, Bose, Brother, Buffalo, Canon, Cassidian, Cisco, Dassault Systems, Dell, Epson, Ericsson, Fujitsu, Hitachi, HP, Huawei, IBM, Ingram Micro, Intel, JVC, Kenwood, Kodak, Konica Minolta, Lexmark, LG, Loewe, Microsoft, Mitsubishi, Motorola Mobility, Motorola Solutions, NEC, Nokia, Nokia Siemens Networks, Océ, Oki, Optoma, Oracle, Panasonic, Philips, Pioneer, Qualcomm, Research In Motion, Ricoh, Samsung, Sanyo, SAP, Sharp, Siemens, Smart Technologies, Sony, Sony Ericsson, Swatch Group, Technicolor, Texas Instruments, Toshiba, Xerox NATIONAL TRADE ASSOCIATIONS: Austria: FEEI; Belgium: AGORIA; Bulgaria: BAIT; Cyprus: CITEA; Czech Republic: ASE; Denmark: DI ITEK, IT-BRANCHEN; Estonia: ITL; Finland: FFTI; France: SIMAVELEC; Germany: BITKOM, ZVEI; Greece: SEPE; Hungary: IVSZ; Ireland: ICT IRELAND; Italy: ANITEC; Lithuania: INFOBALT; Netherlands: ICT OFFICE, FIAR; Poland: KIGEIT, PIIT; Portugal: AGEFE, APDC; Romania: APDETIC; Slovakia: ITAS; Slovenia: GZS; Spain: AMETIC; Sweden: IT&Telekomföretagen; United Kingdom: INTELLECT Belarus: INFOPARK; Norway: ABELIA, IKT NORGE; Switzerland: SWICO; Turkey: ECID, TESID, TÜBISAD; Ukraine: IT UKRAINE >> 6 of 6