Sometimes black and white photo prints don’t really look all that black and white. That’s because many printers use a combination of colors to create gray. The HP ink chemists developed a better way to see gray.
Select HP printers support the HP family of gray photo inks including the HP 59 Gray Photo inkjet print cartridge and the HP 100 and HP 102 Gray Photo inkjet print cartridges with Vivera ink. From this family comes the ability to see the world in vibrant shades of gray––and black and white too.
4,097 reasons to believe
HP’s family of gray photo cartridges contains two shades of gray ink (light and dark) plus new black photo ink.
This unique blend of three exclusive ink formulas produces everything from the deepest blacks to the brightest whites and 4,097 shades of gray combinations in between. This is important because, unlike other inks, this helps eliminate graininess and provides smooth transitions from one shade to the next.
Staying neutral
Another reason some black and white prints look less than perfect is something called metamerism, which means a change in perceived color under different lighting conditions. So a print that looks perfectly fine in the sunlight may take on a purplish hue under fluorescent lighting or a greenish tint under incandescent light.
HP ink chemists carefully blend their patented and proprietary dyes, fine-tuning the mix for each ink, so the printed grayscale has a consistently neutral hue in a variety of lighting environments.
Simply put, that means your blacks will stay black, your whites will always be white and your grays (all 4,097 of them) will remain gray.
Working together
HP ink chemists develop each and every ink formula with every element of the HP printing system in mind. So you can rely on every component working together to deliver high quality images with exceptional fade resistance and incredible reliability.
The inks are specifically designed for optimal performance with HP photo papers. For instance, when you use HP Premium Plus Photo Paper you’ll get beautiful photo prints that will resist fading for generations––up to 115 years. *
* Display permanence rating based on testing by Wilhelm Imaging Research or HP Image Permanence Lab for HP 100 and HP 102 Graph Photo inkjet print cartridges with Vivera ink
Printing your best
You can print professional quality black and white prints for (and from) your own home or office.
Click here for some helpful tips on taking and printing your own black and white classics.
Printable version
