[February 26, 2006]

SpencerLab Photo Print Quality International Research Results; Consumers and Professional Photographers Prefer HP Inkjet Prints

MELVILLE, N.Y. --(Business Wire)-- Feb. 26, 2006 -- The SpencerLab Digital Color Laboratory has released results of international research into consumer and professional photographer preferences regarding photographic print image quality. This SpencerLab study, conducted over two months on three continents, acquired and analyzed unbiased consumer and professional photographer preference data, based solely upon print image quality. Under the sponsorship of Hewlett-Packard Company (nyse: HPQ), this research independently assessed preferences regarding the image quality of digital prints produced by HP (including the Photosmart 385, HP Photosmart 8050, and HP Photosmart 8750 Photo Printers) and key competitive systems, including inkjet printers, dye sublimation printers and conventional lab processing.

Secondary objectives were to assess consumer and professional photographer preference of photos on HP Premium Plus Photo Paper compared to prints using Kodak Ultima Paper, and to gauge the importance when judging print quality of DPI (dots-per-inch) and the number of ink colors used in print systems.

This research identified a series of key trends regarding the tested HP photo printing systems:

-- Consumers and professional photographers worldwide preferred the print quality of photos from the three-ink HP Photosmart 385 Photo Printer over photos printed on competitive systems, including six-ink inkjet printers, dye-sublimation printers and lab-processed photos.

-- Consumers and professional photographers worldwide preferred the print quality of photos from the HP Photosmart 8050 Photo Printer to photos from the competitive print systems.

-- Consumers and professional photographers worldwide were similarly positive in their print quality preference for the HP Photosmart 8750 Photo Printer.

-- Photos on HP Premium Plus Photo Paper with the HP Photosmart 8050 Photo Printer were preferred by consumers and professional photographers to photos printed on Kodak Ultima paper with the HP printer.

-- Inkjet photo quality has reached and in many cases exceeded the quality of conventional lab-processed photos.

-- High DPI or the greater number of ink colors in the print system do not necessarily correlate with better photo quality. A better measure of photo quality is the actual comparison of photos.

Research Methodology

This study involved 198 participants, in focus groups convened in the United States, France, and China. These participants provided approximately 24,000 data points for valid, independent preference rankings.

Both consumers and professional photographers were asked to compare and rank photographic prints according to their individual preference for print image quality. Study participants compared prints of five different digital images that were printed on each of the print systems, which included conventional digital lab processing, and inkjet and dye-sublimation printers with their recommended high quality photo papers.

The Summary Report for this study is available at no charge from the SpencerLab Digital Color Laboratory website http://www.spencerlab.com.

The SpencerLab Digital Color Laboratory is a division of Spencer & Associates Publishing, Ltd., a premier research and marketing support consulting boutique bridging the application and technology of digital color imaging--providing services to firms for whom printing is mission-critical: strategic support to improve print quality, throughput performance, cost-of-ownership, and ease-of-use. SpencerLab provides leadership in quantitative and qualitative product comparisons--independent product test and evaluation services and compliance certifications, benchmark test software/hardware to standardize and facilitate such evaluations, and focus group management.

Copyright 2006 Spencer & Associates Publishing, Ltd.

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