FAQs

Memjet technology is a new generation of printing technology for home and office customers, delivering 60-page-per-minute (one second per page) color printing performance at breakthrough costs per page and price points relative to performance. 

The technology consists of four main components including page-wide printheads, high performance controller chips, software and custom inks, which Memjet Home and Office sells to OEM brands to be integrated into their own branded printing devices. 

The "MEM" in Memjet refers to "MEMS" or Micro-ElectroMechanical Systems; the technology of the very small, with metrics ranging in size from a micrometer (a millionth of a meter) to a millimeter (a thousandth of a meter).  The Memjet printheads are fabricated using MEMS processes; modified semiconductor fabrication processes that enable the creation of the silicon structures, nozzles and drop-ejection systems that are the basis of the Memjet technology.  

For decades the printing and imaging industry has provided customers with inkjet and laser printing solutions.  Finally, the next generation of printing technology has arrived - Memjet.  

Memjet Home and Office, along with our partners, is working hard to bring our first product to market as soon as possible while not sacrificing any of the groundbreaking customer experience goals we've set.  We look forward to announcing an updated product introduction date and encourage you to register for an RSS feed to stay current on such announcements.  

Our OEM brands have asked us to keep their identities confidential.  Memjet Home and Office is working with multiple brand partners, with varied development and announcement timelines.  You can keep abreast of Memjet Home and Office partner announcements by subscribing to RSS feeds from this site.

The announcement of the Memjet technology and Memjet companies in March 2007 introduced the technology to the industry and enabled the founding of industry partnerships needed to bring the technology to market.  At that time, Memjet Home and Office was intending our first market entry to be a small-format, 100mm printhead used for printing 4x6 inch (100 x 150mm) photos.  Due to input from our partners, in September 2007 we shifted focus to our A4/Letter printhead and related components, shifting the emphasis to our biggest market opportunity. 

Although we initially believed we would be introducing A4/Letter devices through OEM brands in 2009, the timing now has shifted to 2010.

We look forward to announcing more specific partnerships and product introduction dates soon and encourage you to register for RSS feeds to stay current on such announcements.  

Memjet technology offers home and office customers a new choice in color printing technology.  Memjet Home and Office components provide one-second-per-page color printing, energy efficiency and cost effectiveness, with offerings from the desktop to workgroup and department devices.  It performs faster than most comparable monochrome laser printers and promises per-page running costs significantly lower than comparably priced color laser devices.  Memjet technology is the first home and office printing technology to bring performance, good economics and quality color printing together at the same time.  Finally, a color printing technology that everyone in the office can use. 

No.  Neither our OEM brand business partners nor any existing printer brands have any financial interest in Memjet Home and Office or our technology development partner, Silverbrook Research, Ltd, Pty.  This allows Memjet Home and Office to operate independently and fairly across our range of incumbent and non-incumbent brand partners.

Silverbrook Research is a private, independent research and development company based near Sydney, Australia. Silverbrook Research is the developer of the Memjet technology components. Memjet Home and Office is a separate, private, independent business responsible for the commercialization of the technology for the home and office markets.  Commercialization includes the development of OEM brand relationships, market strategy, business models, component pricing, OEM brand technical and business support, supply chain and operations related to the Memjet Home and Office business opportunities.  Memjet Home and Office works with Silverbrook Research to specify and prioritize technology requirements to satisfy the needs of home and office customers. 

Kia Silverbrook is the co-founder and CEO of Silverbrook Research, the developer of the Memjet technology.  Kia is a scientist and prolific inventor, holding more than 2,400 U.S. patents.  Kia's background in digital imaging dates back to 1973.

There are currently four Memjet companies - Memjet Home and Office, Memjet Labels, Memjet Photo Retail and Memjet Wide Format.  Separate companies enable each company to focus on the unique technology applications, customer needs and business requirements associated with each market space.  While much of the core technology components are leveraged, business models and partnerships differ.  Ink formulations and properties may vary and printhead configurations, controller chip software and host software are optimized to better meet customers' needs in each of these important markets.

Memjet devices are page printers that are designed to process and print an entire color page in one second.  The page wide printhead prints the entire width of the page while the paper simply moves underneath the printhead.  The Memjet software and controller work together to efficiently process page data.  The controller contains a high speed 648 MHz processor and embedded memory sufficient to print even complex pages at rapid speeds.  Each printhead contains 70,400 nozzles and can print up to 900 million drops per second with minimal warm up time. 

Memjet Home and Office does not intend to introduce its own printers or be the primary brand on any home and office printing product.  Our Memjet Home and Office business model is to deliver technology to existing brands for use in their own branded printing devices.

A Memjet based home and office device can achieve full speed and quality on most documents with a typical home/office computer (e.g. 2 GHz Intel processor with 256-1 GB of RAM).

Initial Memjet Home and Office inks are fast drying, water based inks with advanced dyes.  Memjet Home and Office and our partners will continue to research and develop inks well suited for the home and office devices, including consideration of pigmented inks.

Memjet's customized inks are absorbed into the paper in milliseconds.  Pages, even high-coverage pages, are smudge resistant and can be handled immediately after printing.

The Memjet printhead nozzles are small enough that the human eye is not able to see the impact of single clogged nozzles distributed randomly across a Memjet printhead.  Even so, the Memjet components and related ink delivery and maintenance systems have been carefully designed to mitigate clogging and other potential problems that lead to print quality issues.  

The surface of the Memjet printheads and the silicon nozzle's structure are designed to be effectively wiped clean by a maintenance system.  Each Memjet based device will be delivered with a maintanence system designed to keep nozzles healthy while the device is printing as well as after it has been idle for a period of time.  Maintenance system regimes have been designed into Memjet controller chips and can also be adjusted by OEM brands to support a range of printing environments and customer requirements.     

Yes.  Multi-function/All-in-One devices are an important part of the Memjet Home and Office opportunity.  

Certainly.  Memjet prototypes shown to date print at 60 pages per minute and are considered fast enough for most home and office printing environments.  As speeds increase beyond 60ppm, devices become less practical for desktop spaces due in part to more expensive paper movement systems and increased related mechanical robustness.  

In the future, we intend to work with partner brands to introduce higher speed shared office devices that run up to 120 pages per minute, matching the needs of workgroup and departmental users with revolutionary Memjet technology.

Yes.  Memjet inks are customized to ensure sustained performance and quality using a Memjet printhead.  Using the wrong ink can dramatically decrease the capability of a Memjet printhead and can ultimately destroy it.  While the chemistry and fluid dynamics of Memjet ink formulations are unique and specific, the Memjet water-based inks have many ingredients in common with inks used in home and office printing environments today.

While it may be possible to provide non-water-based, specialized inks such as UV-curable inks or solvent-based inks with Memjet printing systems, it is not common to use these inks in home and office printing environments, and not a current priority for Memjet Home and Office.   It is more likely that the other Memjet companies, focused outside of the home and office printing markets, will lead these development efforts.

Click Here to ask your question