Print quality & Speed
Print quality
8k 12k 14k … it doesn’t matter. Why doesn’t it matter? Simply because it’s marketing bullshit. It’s not the same as our monitors, the values aren’t standardized like TV resolutions. For example, Anycubic 14k is 13,312 x 5,120… or 68.1 million pixels… a far cry from 13,440 x 7,560, which is 101.6 million pixels. Yeah, almost half… go figure. So the resolution doesn’t even reach 12K. And that’s the first problem.
The second is that the size of the screen drastically changes its pixel size. No need to draw you a picture: if the screen is twice as big with the same resolution, the pixels will also be twice as big.
If we stop there, we understand that the value we need to look at is XY resolution.
So we’ve included some XL printers in the following table to give you a better idea of the actual values.
| Printer | Print volume | XY definition | Price |
| Elegoo Jupiter 6K | 278x156x300mm | 51 microns | €830 |
| Elegoo Jupiter SE 6K | 278x156x300mm | 51 microns | €680 |
| Phrozen Sonic Mega 8K | 330x185x400mm | 43 microns | €1799 |
| Phrozen Sonic Mega 8KS | 330x185x300mm | 43 microns | €1550 |
| Anycubic Photon M3 Max | 298x164x300mm | 46 microns | €849 |
Now, this information doesn’t give us the final rendering, but it gets us close. To get an idea of the final rendering, you’d have to take into account the resin tray film, the technology used and the quality of the screen.
Ultimately, nothing beats tests and photos to appreciate the printer at its true worth. Our prints are made with 0.05 mm layers. This is the best compromise for almost cubic voxels. The resin used is Elegoo’s 8K Standard White Smoke. And Elegoo’s Jupiter SE is a pleasant surprise. I’ll let you have a look at the photos.
The details are incredible, the impressions are much better than the first tests of the first version of the Jupiter I found on the internet. To the naked eye, it’s impossible to see the voxels on the XY axis. But as with all printers, it’s the Z axis that creates the “layers”. This layer thickness is adjustable between 0.01 and 0.2mm. And with the Jupiter and 0.05mm layers, you’ll need a magnifying glass or good eyes to see them. And if you apply a thin layer of paint afterwards, no one will ever be able to see them. And if your supports are well made, they’ll leave very few marks. I’ll let you find out.
Speed
Resin printers aren’t known for their printing speeds. That said, some can do 15cm per hour on the Z axis (in height). The Jupiter, given its size, is less agile and, according to the brand, can do 7cm per hour, if you decide to print 0.2 mm layers. But at this resolution, you might as well use an FDM printer… So realistically, you’ll be printing at around 2 cm per hour with 0.05 mm layers.
