by , 8:00 AM EDT, July 12th, 2005

HP introduced one of its most significant inkjet printing technologies Monday with the release of new printers featuring "scalable" printing technology.

Five years and $1.4 billion in the making, the new technology assembles printer heads using a photolithographic fabrication method (the same as microprocessors) rather than mechanical assembly. The result leaves printers with more than 3,900 nozzles that produce 93 million ink droplets per second, cutting printing times in half in some cases. A 4x6 photo, for example, can be printed in as little as 14 seconds with the new printers at a cost as low as 24 cents with HP's ink and paper packs.

The technology gets its name by being able to scale HP's entire product line, from low-end consumer printers to professional models.

HP introduced two new printers with the technology Monday, the Photosmart 8250 and Photosmart 3310 All-in-One. The Photosmart 8250 goes on sale later this month for $199.99 delivering six-color printing at speeds of up to 32 pages per minute for black and white and 31 pages per minute for color. Print resolution is 1200x1200, although color prints can be optimized to 4800x1200. There's also a 2.5-inch LCD and support for direct printing from cameras.

The Photosmart 3000 All-in-One series will ship later this fall; details and pricing will be released then.