Page Yield / Ink Cartridge Reliability Comparison Study ...€¦ · Page Yield– On average,...

Laboratory:TÜV SÜD PSB Pte. Ltd.Testing ServicesNo.1 Science Park DriveSingapore 118221

Phone : +65-6885 1333Fax : +65-6776 8670E-mail: [email protected]. Reg : 199002667R

Regional Head Office:TÜV SÜD Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd.3 Science Park Drive, #04-01/05The Franklin, Singapore 118223

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Page Yield / Ink CartridgeReliability Comparison Study forASIA

HP Inkjet Print CartridgesVs Refilled Cartridges

JAN 2010

For distribution in Asia

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.tuv-sud-psb.sg

Page Yield/ Ink Cartridge Reliability Comparison Study for Asia

Note: This summary is issued subject to terms and conditions as attached within this report.

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Executive Summary

In September 2009, TÜV SÜD PSB Pte Ltd (hereinafter referred to as “TÜV SÜD PSB”) wascommissioned by Hewlett-Packard Singapore (Private) Limited to conduct a page yield / reliabilitycomparative study on original HP inkjet cartridges and refilled inkjet cartridges that are used in theHP Deskjet 5650, HP Deskjet 2560, HP Deskjet 2568 and HP Deskjet 930C printers for Asia.

The study was designed to evaluate the page yield and reliability of original HP inkjet cartridgesversus refilled cartridges selected from eight(8) cities in six(6) countries in Asia. All the cartridgesused in the study were procured in Asia. The study was based on the Statement of Works (SOW)developed by HP and successfully completed in December 2009.

TÜV SÜD PSB Pte Ltd carried out the refilling exercise, which consist of refilling empty HP inkjetcartridges at both locally branded chain stores as well as non-branded outlets situated in sixCountrys within Asia.

The following were observed during this study:

Page Yield – On average, original HP inkjet print cartridges produced 111.9% more or over twiceas many pages than all the refilled cartridges sampled from six countries.

Cartridge Reliability – On average, 42.8% of the refilled cartridges tested were either dead-on-arrival or failed prematurely, whereas only 1.4% of the original HP inkjet print cartridges testedfailed prematurely.



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Detailed Results

1. Page Yield

From the results of the study, on average, original HP inkjet print cartridges produced 111.9% moreor over twice as many pages than the refilled cartridges sampled from six countries in Asia.

The performance of individual original HP cartridge page yield was first compared to individualrefilled cartridge page yield for each country. The individual cartridge performance was thencombined to create a single index value (in %) for every country tested as shown in Table 1. Thesingle index value of each country were then further combined to create an average for the overallpage yield study.

The table (1) and chart (1) below show the performance of the combined average (in %) of originalHP inkjet print cartridges versus the combined average (in %) of refilled cartridges from eachcountry in Asia.

Detailed Results of Page Yield for Countries A to F

Cartridge Type BrandNumber of Cartridges

Tested

Average Percentmore pages for HP

CartridgesHP HP 72 N/A

Refilled Cartridges

Country A 144 127.9%Country B 61 79.2%Country C 160 165.5%Country D 60 63.9%Country E 68 84.7%Country F 73 150.3%

Overall average % more pages for HP per country 111.9%

Table 1: HP/Refilled Cartridge Page Yield



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Chart 1: HP/Refilled Cartridge Page Yield

Detailed Results of Reliabilty Study for Countries A to F

2. Cartridge Reliability

From the results of the study, 42.8% of the refilled cartridges tested were found either dead-on-arrival* or failed prematurely, whereas 1.4% of the HP branded inkjet print cartridges tested failedprematurely.

The dead-on-arrival*(DOA) and premature failure*(PF) cartridges are listed separately for eachcountry as well as combined to create a total problem cartridge value for each country. Thepercentages shown are referenced to the number of cartridges tested per country. These valueswere then combined to create a sum of problem cartridge/total number of catridges tested for eachcountry.

The problem cartridges (DOA + PF) listed for each country were then totalled up to show thenumber of problem cartridges for the reliability study. This number (total number of problemcartridges for all countries) is then compared with the total overall number of cartridges used in thestudy, and represents the overall cartridge reliability for the study.

For example, sixty-one (61) refilled cartridges were used in this study for Country A. From therefilled cartridges tested, seven (7) cartridges or 11.5% were found to be dead-on-arrival*, and ten(10) cartridges or 16.4% were found to fail prematurely. This adds up to seventeen (17) or 27.9%of problem cartridges for Country A.

* Please refer to Appendix 2 on page 9 of 15 for the terms and definitions.



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CartridgeType Brand

Numberof

CartridgeTested

Numberof Dead

onArrival(DOA)

Dead onArrival

(%)

Number ofPremature

Failure(PF)

PrematureFailure (%)

TotalProblem

Cartridges(%)

HP HP 72 0 0.0% 1 1.4% 1.4%

RefilledCartridges

Country A 144 36 25.0% 31 21.5% 46.5%Country B 61 7 11.5% 10 16.4% 27.9%Country C 160 58 36.3% 25 15.6% 51.9%Country D 60 5 8.3% 8 13.3% 21.7%Country E 68 10 14.7% 17 25.0% 39.7%Country F 73 16 21.9% 19 26.0% 47.9%

Total RefilledCartridges 566 132 23.3% 110 19.4% 42.8%

Table 2: Cartridge Reliability

Chart 2: Percentage of problem cartridges



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Appendix 1: Methodology of Study

Below is a summary of the methodology used for this study.

A1.1 Test items

The printers and print cartridges selected for the study were as follows:

Printer Black PrintCartridge

Color PrintCartridge

HP Deskjet 5650 (C6490E) HP56(C6656A)

HP57(C6657A)

HP Deskjet 930C (C6427A) HP45(51645A)

HP78(C6578A)

HP Deskjet 2560 HP 60(CC640W)

HP60(CC643W)

HP Deskjet 2568 HP818(CC640Z)

HP818(CC643Z)

10 HP Deskjet 5650 printers, 6 HP Deskjet 2560, 6 HP Deskjet 2568 printers printers and 15 HPDeskjet 930C printers were used to test 72 original HP branded inkjet print cartridges and 566refilled print cartridges. A4-sized paper of 210 x 297mm and 80g/m2 was used for all printing in thisstudy.

View of printers and setup View of HP Print Cartridges



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Appendix 1: Methodology of Study – cont’d

A1.2 Procurement of test itemsTÜV SÜD PSB procured all printers, paper and original HP inkjet cartridges through standard retailchannels. Refilled print cartridges were purchased by our respective officers in the Asia cities. Thesix countries, namely China, India, Indonesia, Korea, Philippines and Thailand were selected forthis study by Hewlett Packard. All the cartridges tested in the study were procured in Asia by TÜVSUD officers. For the refilled cartridges tested per country, approximately 55.5% of the test data isbased on cartridges that were refilled once; approximately 33.3% of the test data is based oncartridges that were refilled twice; and approximately 11.1% of the test data is based on cartridgesthat were refilled three times.

A1.3 Test duration, test environment and print suitePrinting was performed in continuous mode in an office controlled environment of 23 ± 2 °C and60%±10%RH. The 5–page test suite from ISO 24712 was used for this study. The test pageswere as follows:

Page 1Business Letter

Page 2Slide

Page 3Newsletter

Page 4Spreadsheet

Page 5Diagnostic Page

A1.4 Transportation of test cartridges to and from test facilityCartridges were placed in air tight plastic bags and shipped via air shipment in glass containers tothe respective countries for refilling. This is to prevent transportation-induced failures. The glasscontainers have been pressure tested at 40000ft (prior to test commencement) to simulate similarconditions during air shipment.

A1.5 PC and Printer settingsComputers used in this project were operated with Microsoft’s Windows XP operating system andAdobe Reader version 9.1.0; along with respective printer drivers for HP 930C Deskjet printers, HP2560 Deskjet printers, HP 2568 Deskjet printers and HP 5650 Deskjet Printers.

“Plain Paper” media type setting was selected and the default print mode was used. Image andprint quality modifiers were set to “Normal”. Auto media detection, user selectable ink conservationmodes, page modifiers “Fit to Page” and “Font Substitution” was disabled.



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Appendix 1: Methodology of Study – cont’d

A1.6 Testing processEach cartridge was visually inspected for leaks and other damage prior to test commencement.Printing was performed until at least nine (9) black and nine (9) colour cartridges per countryreached end-of-life. Both black and color cartridges were tested in parallel at any one time - wheneither one cartridge depletes first, a new inkjet cartridge was used to complete printing for theremaining cartridge-in-test; all results and effects of these replacement cartridges were ignored inthe test.

The cartridges which had reached end-of-life were sent to each country refill country* for refilling.The cartridges which were once refilled and have passed the Page Yield test were reused for thesecond refill. Correspondingly, the twice-refilled cartridges which have completed Page Yield testwere reused for the thrice-refilled exercise.

For each of the refilling stages, due diligence was taken to ensure that cartridges were notswitched between refill store country*, ie. a cartridge which was refilled more than once was refilledfrom the same store, and that cartridges handed in for the refill were the same ones returned forthe testing. In the event empty cartridges cannot be successfully refilled and were substituted withanother pre-refilled or alternative cartridge by the refill store vendor, such substitute or replacementwas not used for the test.

In order for the results obtained to be statistically significant and valid, a minimum of 9 black and9 color cartridges were successfully printed to end-of-life due to fade*.

*Please refer to Appendix 2 on page 9 of 14 for the terms and definitions.



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Appendix 2: Terms and Definitions

Terminology used in Study Definition1. Dead On Arrival (DOA) A condition determined by one of three mechanisms:

Cartridge found to have substantial leakage (as defined below)at start or during testing.

10 or less pages printed by a cartridge Color mix (as defined below) has occurred and incorrect colors

printed on 10 consecutive pages – color cartridge failuremechanism only.

2. Premature Failure A cartridge that has a page yield of less than 75% of the averagepage yield (as defined below) for that cartridge brand.

3. Substantial ink leakage - Ink visibly spilled in the plastic bag containing the cartridge.- Ink visibly spilled in the interior of the cartridge packaging.- Ink visibly spilled over the print head nozzles.

4. End of Life (EOL) A condition determined by one of three mechanisms:1. Fade has occurred on the diagnostic page.2. Streak removal procedure steps have been exhausted.3. Cartridge is Dead-on-Arrival (DOA).



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Appendix 2: Terms and Definitions – cont’d

5. Fade A significant decrease in density on the bands or blocks of the lastpage in the test page suite, which is a diagnostic page. Thisdecrease in density does not have to occur completely across thepage to be considered fade. For a comparison to determine if fadeis occurring, reference the 10th page printed by that printer.

Example of Color FadeExample of Black Fade



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6. Streaks Very thin lines of color or the lack of color where it should be, in theblocks surrounding the edge of the diagnostic page. Streaks differfrom fade in the width and severity of the reduction in density.Streaks can appear due to a number of reasons, including thermalissues and clogged nozzles.

Example of Color Streaks Example of Black Streaks

7. Streak RemovalProcedures

This is the cartridge cleaning procedure (servicing) used to restoreprint performance. If streaks are observed on three consecutivediagnostic pages, a streak removal procedure should beimplemented. Streak removal operations should be conductedaccording to the HP printer manual documentation. If there wereadditional cleaning steps advised for the non-HP cartridges, theywere included within the cleaning process. If the cleaning operationhad the option of multiple cleaning strengths, the procedure indictedin the printer manual for resolving streaking should be followed.Use of a “light” and “strong” cleaning procedure counts as onecartridge cleaning operation. Cleaning is verified by reprinting thediagnostic page. If streaks are still present, the clean procedure isrepeated. Any pages printed during the cleaning operation are notcounted in the yield calculation. Due to the significant amount of inkthat is used for cleaning, the maximum permissible number of timesthat the streak removal operation can be used on a given cartridgeis three times. Cartridges which require a fourth service areconsidered to be at End of Life.



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8. Individual Cartridge Yield Individual cartridge yield is calculated by counting the number ofdiagnostic plots printed between cartridge installation and end oflife, then multiplying by five. The diagnostic page is the last plotprinted in the test suite.

9. Average Cartridge PageYield

Average cartridge yield for a given cartridge type

Where• Xi is the individual cartridge yield.• N is the sample size i.e. (17 for example), excluding

cartridges identified as “Dead-on-Arrival” as per definitionabove.

This average cartridge page yield number is solely used for thepurposes of calculating premature failures.

10. Color Mix Defined as a color cartridge that cannot print the correct Cyan,Magenta and Yellow colors as shown on the diagnostic page, page5 of the page yield test suite. Ink has mixed in an unintendedmanner inside the cartridge and has caused a discoloring of the ink.

An example of Color Mix is provided below. Compare the coloredblocks in the correct example to those of the color mix page.

Good Diagnostic Page View of printouts with color mixes



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11. Test Page Suite A series of five pages that are printed consecutively in order as asingle job, ending with a diagnostic page (ISO 24712).

12. Problem Cartridge Cartridges identified as dead-on-arrival and cartridges identifiedas premature failures (as defined above).

13 Average % More Pages Average % More Pages was calculated by computing thedifference between the HP average page count for eachcartridge model and the average page count for each refilledbrand for the same model and then expressing that difference asa percentage of the HP average page count. These percentvalues for each cartridge model were averaged to create apercent difference for each brand. The brand ratios wereaveraged to create the category ratios for the store/refill brandcartridges and the refill station brand cartridges. Finally, the twocategory ratios were averaged to create the overall Average %More Pages for HP.The mean page count values used for thiscalculation include cartridges identified as dead-on-arrival andpremature failures.



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This Report is issued under the following conditions:

1. This summary contains only technical results. TÜV SÜD PSB gives no professional opinion and recommendations expressed thereupon.

2. This report applies to the sample of the specific product/equipment given at the time of its testing/calibration. The results are not used to indicate or imply that they are applicable to other similar items. In addition, such results must not be used to indicate or imply that TÜV SÜD

PSB approves, recommends or endorses the manufacturer, supplier or user of such product/equipment, or that TÜV SÜD PSB in any way“guarantees” the later performance of the product/equipment.

3. The sample/s mentioned in this report is/are procured by TÜV SÜD PSB. However, TÜV SÜD PSB therefore assumes no responsibility for the accuracy of information on the brand name, model number, origin of manufacture, consignment or any information supplied.

4. Nothing in this report shall be interpreted to mean that TÜV SÜD PSB has verified or ascertained any endorsement or marks from any other testing authority or bodies that may be found on that sample.

5. Unless otherwise stated, the tests are carried out in TÜV SÜD PSB Pte Ltd, No.1 Science Park Drive Singapore 118221.

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