4/13/2001 - I've had a bit of interest in my fade tests lately (probably due to recent posts on rec.photo.digital). I have one person working on a fade test with HP's Photosmart 1218 (same black cart as 722, different color cart), and might be having someone willing to do a test comparing the HP 722 with the Epson 980. The Epson 980 owner also pointed me to a few interesting fade links. The Epson Orange Shift Site documents the interesting fade developments with the Epson 870/1270 printers. And This German Site seems to cover some fade issues, but my German is a bit rusty.
After reading Henry Wilhelm's book, "The Care and Permanence...", I've lost interest in doing any further fade testing of inkjets, and instead will be looking for an alternate solution to image fading using his recommendations. The reason I've given up is because Wilhelm's research calls into question my own. In his experiments he has carefully documented a "reciprocity failure" with respect to fade testing. That is, short exposures to very intense light are not the same as long exposures to normal light. So, my results do not accurately reflect what happens in the real world. I have done some long exposures to low-level light and have found my results to be reasonably accurate in round 1 of the tests. So, in order to do a more realistic test, I would need to subject prints to a more realistic set of display conditions. I do not have the means to do this at my disposal. So, I will have to call it quits, and rely on Wilhelm's results for my longevity decisions. If anyone has any comments or helpful suggestions, please email me.