"There is no business reason for designing paper or printing machines that
can present sharpness greater than the users can see/will notice. "
Good God, man, keep quiet. The paper used in most mini labs is just like the
paper used at your local pro lab. You're right, there is no business reason
to use paper that good, except that they haven't thought about making a
cheap "mini lab" paper.
Most pro labs will use one of several papers, depending on the result
desired. Kodak, for example, has three papers, with three different contrast
grades. Many mini labs will use the most contrasty, to give photos that
extra saturated, extra contrasty snap. Others will use the flatter grade, to
reduce the number of reprints. Wal-Mart uses Fuji (who operates their mini
labs) Crystal Archive paper. I think there are two versions of this paper
that people either love or hate.
Kodak, by the way, is reformulating their papers to make them more friendly
to digital printers. I predict that in 5 years there will be no more type R,
as scannning and printing digitally is really better, mainly in terms of
contrast control. It's been a long time since any R&D was done on type R.
Bill Pearce
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