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Toray stated that it will begin to ship a waterless plate by the end of the year. The plate will be simply processed by rinsing in water. Currently, a Toray plate needs to undergo a w-stage processing cycle, interspersed with water washing and some chemicals are used in the intermediate stages. The new plate has similar characteristics of existing versions in the emerging processless plate realm but Toray's IR sensitive layer, which is the second layer of the 3- layer plate, has incorporated polymers with a greatly increased sensitivity to heat. On exposure the image area causes the silicone sensitive area to lift and this is removed by a brushing action in a bath of water. The brush has been modified and is somewhat larger than the ones currently in use. A further benefit of the new plate, according to the company, is the silicone rubber surface which is considerably more durable and is expected to be able to provide as much as 50 per cent greater run lengths. Resolution of up to 4,500 dpi makes it the best in its class and the plate uses an 830nm IR laser making it suitable for most thermal platesetters.