Canon imageCLASS MPC 190

Canon imageCLASS MPC 190

R. Mohan, Dec 15, 2004 0000 hrs IST

This MFD from Canon is meant ideally for the home user giving the features of printing, scanning and copying images and documents

Fast speeds, Satisfactory quality outputs, Cleans head/nozzle using hardware itself

Color saturation, Grains while scanning

Expert Rating :

Expert Review

The Canon MPC 190 accepts 100 sheets in the paper tray, prints at a color resolution of 2400 x 1200 dpi and features an advanced Microfine Droplet Technology to eliminate grains in images. We ran our standard tests on it at the highest print quality setting (unless specified in the description). The following are the tests and their results:

Font Test: The font test consisted of printing a document containing various fonts starting from point size 24 going all the way down to point size 1.
Result: Even though the results were quite impressive with fonts at the lowest point size decently visible to the naked eye, the sharpness and accuracy was missing with slight smudging. We realized this misalignment and smudges only when we scanned the print.

Black and White Resolution Test: We printed an EIA Resolution chart (1956), containing high-contrast vertical, horizontal and diagonal lines as well as curves of various sizes.
Result: Here again, horizontal and vertical lines were not very sharp, but good enough, as one cannot spot the difference with the naked eye. The sharpness counts only when the thinnest of lines is clearly visible.
Time Taken: 3 Minutes 10 seconds

Color Test: We printed a sheet with gradients of RGB and CMYK bands, which start from the darkest shade to the lightest, eventually fading to white.
Result: Color output was just about satisfactory with the shading of the RGB colors starting out well and quickly fading out before the required stage. True color of black was missing here, which was quite disappointing.
Time Taken: 2 Minutes 48 seconds

Border Test: This document contained lines stretching out all the way to the edge of the document, to test the printer's borderless printing capabilities.
Result: Prior to printing, cartridge alignment and cleaning is always given high priority to produce precise lines. Surprisingly, borders printed vertically were 90% accurate, while width wise, it was just around the 75% mark. Overall accuracy was just around 80%.

Resolution Test
300 dpi Image Test: We printed a 300 dpi image with minute details and varying colors.
Result: We couldn't believe the print speed could be so fast. Sometimes with fast printouts, results tend to be a bit on the lower side. This one gave very sharp results, but the color reproduction was not satisfactory. Magenta was a bit too much, while an area with black was on the lower side. This MFD easily beat the previous printers we have tested, but went down in contrast ratio.
Time Taken: 4 Minutes 07 seconds

600 dpi Image Test: Almost identical to the 300 dpi test; but with lot more textures, sharpness, depth and colors.
Result: Here again, even though the results were quite sharp, presence of RGB spots at many places was another downfall. But here, the contrast output was comparatively better than the 300 dpi result. The speed again was by-far the quickest.
Time Taken: 5 Minutes 27 seconds

1200 dpi Image Test: Here we used a massive file containing a mix of very high-resolution images having minute details with vivid and extreme colors.
Result: This time around, the speed time recorded was quite unbelievable. What was surprising is that the results produced here were quite vivid with colors being produced at the highest quality with little grains visible.
Time taken: 7 Minutes 40 seconds