DreamColor Technology: Worth the Hype? - The Look of DreamColor
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Is the look of DreamColor really worth the hefty price? It’s true the new technology offers crisp, true-to-life colors in a dazzling shade spectrum. In conjunction with DreamWorks, HP proudly shows off how these new displays can quite accurately capture the subtle tone of “Shrek green” and print true color-photo quality with dazzling results. The colors are sharp, the transformation between displays and actual printed images are astounding, and the management features are vast. There is no doubt that two years of hard work paid off for HP with the quality of new DreamColor technology and products. But is it really, really worth the somewhat jaw-dropping expense?
The Reality of DreamColor
Many DreamColor products are geared toward commercial, industrial, and other business-related printers and designers who could truly benefit from the intense color arrays and extensive color management features. With DreamColor, it’s possible to present an image to customers on a screen, then actually re-create those same pictures in actual printed images without losing clarity or color scope. The tools for graphic design are practically mind-boggling, with software applications that allow interfacing to the Web and desktop publishing programs. Almost-endless color possibility is enough to get anyone who loves images excited, but does that mean absolutely anyone could really benefit from DreamColor?
What’s in it for the casual home user who only wants to print out pretty photo images from an ordinary digital camera, or the person who wants to create a few eye-catching flyers to promote an at-home service? The reality of DreamColor is that most average consumers will never have the opportunity or inclination to take full advantage of the graphic features, the huge range of color, and the extensive management applications. For some, in fact, the many options and features may serve to offer more confusion than fun color-creation, creating more aggravation than glorious images.
It may be interesting and impressive to capture so many real colors and really get the chance to subtly play with the many shades therein, but it’s often not necessary to do so when most users just want nice photos they can look at, or bright images they can show off. The sheer size of many DreamColor products alone is enough to turn off many consumers not already involved in the field of graphic design, if the price won’t do it already. And HP’s slim enticement of payment plans -- made on a month-to-month basis -- hardly makes this technology seem more affordable or easy to obtain to the everyday Internet user who only wants to create high-quality prints.
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