Dear Scott, Over the last years several companies announced phototool writing systems. A.o: Agfa - Barco ETS (Elise - Mastertool MT8) DuPont - Optrotech (direct write film system) Kodak - Screen (direct image setting film and recorder) Polaroid - AOI (dry tech image setting system) To my best knowledge only one system is in use in PCB production. Today Elise Mastertool MT8 is in operation with 8 PCB manufactures. Some of them are also acting as a service bureau, so more manufactures use the phototools (Eg:Thomson France produces plasma screen with Mastertool MT8 phototools). More installations are planned. Barco ETS announced the big sizes successor of the Elise, called EliseWriter. Gerber Systems announced the PRISM-IR (see CircuiTree jan '97). This plotter can image Mastertool MT8. One system is in operation. Orbotech presented their Direct Write Plotter, imaging Mastertool MT8, at Productronica '95. Orbotech will enter the market soon now. The Barco ETS and Gerber Systems imagers will be in operation at the IPC exhibition. All these imagers are external drum or curved bed plotters. They can not handle rigid boards. I know of two Direct Imaging (image the photoresist without the use of any phototool) systems, available today. Jenoptik (DP 40) and Etec Polyscan Inc (Laser Direct Imaging System). The latter can image Mastertool MT8. You are welcome to contact me for more info. Eric Janssens Agfa [log in to unmask] *************************************************************************** * TechNet mail list is provided as a service by IPC using SmartList v3.05 * *************************************************************************** * To unsubscribe from this list at any time, send a message to: * * [log in to unmask] with <subject: unsubscribe> and no text. * *************************************************************************** * If you are having a problem with the IPC TechNet forum please contact * * Dmitriy Sklyar at 847-509-9700 ext. 311 or email at [log in to unmask] * ***************************************************************************