Fairfield (NJ) – Buyers Laboratory LLC (BLI), the leading independent authority in the document imaging industry, today announced its annual PRO awards, which acknowledge the best-in-class devices in BLI’s production field tests. This year, models from Canon and Konica Minolta delivered the winning performances. Having generated tens of millions of impressions on production devices from the leading vendors over several years, BLI’s production tests reveal the attributes that distinguish the most outstanding performers in a challenging evaluation covering productivity, image quality, media handling, ease of use and more. The 2017 BLI PRO Award winners are:

Canon U.S.A., Inc.

Canon imagePRESS C850

Outstanding Color Light Production Device

Konica Minolta Business Solutions U.S.A., Inc.

Konica Minolta bizhub PRO 1100

Outstanding Monochrome Light Production Device

Outstanding Image Quality and Job Management Earn Canon Acclaim

“The Canon imagePRESS C850 delivers superior output and powerful job management capabilities in a small footprint,” said Pete Emory, BLI’s Director of U.S./Asia Research and Lab Services. “Image quality was equally outstanding on coated and uncoated stocks, and even with textured paper and envelopes. In fact, the device earned BLI’s 5-Star status for fine line production. Color calibration, especially when using the PRISMAsync controller with in-RIP G7 calibration, is straightforward, making it easy to maintain that high level of quality over longer runs. And with simple procedures for programming media types, creating automated workflows and submitting jobs, the imagePRESS C850 promises to keep operators productive throughout the day.”

Konica Minolta Model Offers Robust Image Quality Control and Media Handling Flexibility

“The Konica Minolta bizhub PRO 1100 is an ideal choice for breaking into the monochrome production printing market,” said David Sweetnam, BLI’s Director of Research and Lab Services for EMEA/Asia. “The unparalleled degree of image quality control lets operators enhance output to meet most any need. In fact, the device earned BLI’s 5-Star status for its ability to handle fine lines, fonts, solids and halftones under optimal settings. And with media support up to 300 gsm from all drawers, the device also offers a degree of media handling flexibility above and beyond many of its competitors.”

About Buyers Laboratory LLC

Buyers Laboratory LLC (BLI) is the world’s leading independent provider of analytical information and services to the digital imaging and document management industry. For more than 50 years, buyers have relied on BLI to help them differentiate products’ strengths and weaknesses and make the best purchasing decisions, while industry sales, marketing and product professionals have turned to BLI for insightful competitive intelligence and valued guidance on product development, competitive positioning and sales channel and marketing support. Using BLI’s web-based bliQ and Solutions Center services, 40,000 professionals worldwide create extensive side-by-side comparisons of hardware and software solutions for over 15,000 products globally, including comprehensive specifications and the performance results and ratings from BLI’s unparalleled Lab, Solutions and Environmental Test Reports, the result of months of hands-on evaluation in its US and UK labs. The services, also available via mobile devices, include a comprehensive library of BLI’s test reports, an image gallery, hard to find manufacturers’ literature and valuable tools for configuring products and calculating total cost of ownership (TCO) and annual power usage. BLI also offers consulting and private, for-hire testing services that help manufacturers develop and market better products and consumables.