Quick Answer
If your Sony UP-D890, UP-890MD, UP-860MD, UP-D860, UP-870MD or UP-850MD is still running and the paper is getting hard to find, you have four realistic paths: verify roll fit against a currently manufactured 110mm grade, buy down the remaining OEM stock, consolidate the printer onto a supported Sony UP-895/897/898 Series unit, or ask a supplier to confirm fit before you commit to a case. Durico's published compatibility for its 110mm ULSTAR grades covers the Sony UP-895 / 897 / 898 Series. Legacy models outside that list are not documented as compatible — so confirm fit first, never assume it.
The problem nobody warns you about
A medical video printer is one of the last pieces of equipment in an imaging suite that refuses to die. The ultrasound system gets replaced on a seven-year cycle, the workstation gets refreshed, and meanwhile the little thermal printer bolted to the cart keeps producing perfectly readable images a decade after the model left Sony's active catalog.
Then the last box runs out, the part number that has been on the purchase order since 2014 comes back unavailable, and a practice manager who was not expecting to think about thermal media that morning is deep in a search for "Sony UP-890MD paper" at 4:40 on a Friday.
This guide is for that person: what "discontinued" actually means here, what is genuinely still available, how to verify whether a currently manufactured roll fits a printer nobody publishes a compatibility list for anymore, and where the safe landing spots are.
"Discontinued" means three different things — and only one of them is a real problem
The word gets used loosely, and the three cases have very different consequences for your supply chain.
- The printer is end-of-life. Sony has stopped manufacturing the unit and stopped offering factory service. Your printer still works. This is an ownership-risk issue, not a paper issue.
- The OEM media part number is being wound down. Original equipment manufacturer paper — the Sony-branded rolls — is still floating through the distribution channel, but production has slowed or stopped. Prices drift upward, lead times get erratic, and one day the listing goes dark.
- The roll format itself is obsolete. The genuinely painful case: a width or roll geometry no manufacturer produces anymore. It is also the rarest case in ultrasound printing, because the 110mm format has been remarkably stable for decades.
Most clinics who think they are in case 3 are actually in case 2 — a distinction worth several hundred dollars a year, because case 2 has good options and case 3 does not.
What is actually still manufactured in 110mm
Here is the part that surprises people: the 110mm thermal roll is not a legacy format. It is the dominant format in ultrasound printing today, produced in volume by multiple manufacturers, including Durico Coating & Technology in South Korea — whose ULSTAR line Precision Imaging Supply stocks. What changed is not the paper width. It is which printers the manufacturers publish compatibility for.
Durico's documented compatibility — the honest table
This table is reproduced exactly as Durico publishes it. Nothing has been extrapolated, inferred, or extended to models Durico does not list.
| Durico grade | Sony OEM equivalent | Roll size | Sony printers Durico documents | Product page |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ULSTAR 1100S (Standard, matte) | UPP-110S (Type I) | 110mm × 20m | UP-895 / 897 / 898 Series | Sony UPP-110S compatible thermal paper |
| ULSTAR 1100HD (High Density, semi-gloss) | UPP-110HD (Type II) | 110mm × 20m | UP-895 / 897 / 898 Series | Sony UPP-110HD compatible high-density paper |
| ULSTAR 1100HG (High Gloss) | UPP-110HG (Type V) | 110mm × 18m | UP-895 / 897 / 898 Series | Sony UPP-110HG compatible high-gloss paper |
| ULSTAR 2100HD (Large format) | UPP-210HD (Type II) | 210mm × 25m | UP-970 / 971 / 990 / 991AD | Sony UPP-210HD compatible large-format paper |
Read that fourth column carefully. UP-D890, UP-890MD, UP-860MD, UP-D860, UP-870MD and UP-850MD do not appear on it. That is not an oversight and it is not a hedge — it is the actual scope of what the manufacturer documents.
Plenty of suppliers will happily tell you a roll fits your legacy printer. I am not going to, because I cannot verify it from Durico's own compatibility chart, and a compatibility claim that isn't in the manufacturer's documentation is a guess dressed up as a spec. What I can do is tell you exactly how to find out.
How to verify fit yourself — a five-minute checklist
If you own a legacy Sony unit and want to know whether a currently manufactured 110mm roll will physically and thermally work, this is the sequence. Do it before you order a case, not after.
1. Pull the part number off the old box
Not the printer model — the paper model. It will be something like UPP-110S, UPP-110HD or UPP-110HG, usually with a "Type I", "Type II" or "Type V" designation. That code tells you the grade family and the thermal sensitivity class your printer was built around. If the box is long gone, the paper spec is normally printed inside the paper bay door or listed in the printer's user manual.
2. Measure the roll width and the core
Width should measure 110mm across the paper face. Check the core diameter and whether the roll seats on a spindle or drops into a cradle. A width mismatch is disqualifying; a core mismatch is usually solvable but worth knowing before the box arrives.
3. Check the roll's outer diameter against the paper bay
This is the one that catches people. A 20m roll has a larger outer diameter than an 18m roll of the same width. Older, more compact printer bodies sometimes have tighter bays. If your printer historically ran an 18m roll and you order 20m, confirm the door still closes. We covered this in detail in Sony ultrasound thermal paper roll geometry — 110mm × 18m vs 20m.
4. Confirm the grade, not just the size
Standard, high-density and high-gloss are not interchangeable in terms of output, even when they share a width. Standard is the matte, most economical daily-driver grade. High-density is semi-gloss with stronger grayscale separation for diagnostic review. High-gloss is the photorealistic keepsake grade. If your legacy printer was specified around a Type I standard roll, a gloss roll may print, but the density curve it was calibrated for is different. Sony UPP-110HG vs UPP-110HD vs UPP-110S walks through which grade matches which workflow.
5. Test one roll before you buy a carton
Order the smallest quantity available, print a representative study, and evaluate density, contrast and feed behavior. One roll is a cheap experiment. A 50-roll carton is not.
Your four options, ranked by how well they usually work
Option 1 — Verify fit, then standardize (best long-term outcome)
If your legacy printer takes a standard 110mm roll and the checklist above comes back clean, you have effectively rejoined the mainstream supply chain. You are buying a format that multiple manufacturers still produce in volume, which means stable pricing and no more end-of-life scares. This is the outcome worth spending fifteen minutes to confirm.
Option 2 — Buy the remaining OEM stock (buys time, not a solution)
When an OEM part number winds down, distributors sit on inventory for a while. You can often buy a year of paper at once. The catch is that thermal media is sensitive to heat and humidity, so a deep buy needs real storage discipline — a cool, dry, dark cabinet, rolls left in their sealed pouches until use. Durico's own accelerated storage testing runs at 40°C / 90% relative humidity for seven days and 50°C dry for seven days, which tells you the environmental factors that actually matter. If you go this route, read how long thermal ultrasound prints last first, because storage conditions affect both unused rolls and finished prints.
Option 3 — Consolidate onto a supported printer
This is the option practice managers resist and then wish they had chosen sooner. A used or refurbished Sony UP-D897MD or UP-D898MD unit costs a fraction of what most people assume, and it moves you onto the UP-895 / 897 / 898 Series platform — the range essentially every current 110mm media manufacturer, Durico included, explicitly documents. If you are paying a scarcity premium on legacy media, the annual paper overspend often covers the printer inside two years, and the risk of a hard supply stop goes to zero. If you run several printers, standardizing your fleet onto one paper SKU also collapses ordering complexity from four part numbers to one.
Option 4 — Ask before you order
If you are not sure what you have, send the printer model, the old paper part number, and a photo of the paper bay. Someone who handles this media daily can tell you in minutes whether a currently manufactured roll is a realistic candidate or whether you are genuinely in the obsolete-format case. That is free, and faster than a return.
Why the UP-895 / 897 / 898 Series is the safe landing spot
Every one of Durico's 110mm ULSTAR grades documents compatibility with the Sony UP-895, 897 and 898 Series. That means a department standardized on those printers can run standard, high-density or high-gloss media from a single supply relationship, choosing the grade by clinical need rather than by what happens to be findable that month.
The construction is the same across the line: a five-layer build — film substrate, UV-cured glossy layer, protective layer, thermal coat layer, back-coat layer — with a built-in anti-electrostatic layer designed to prevent thermal head damage. Every roll ships individually sealed in a foil pouch, which is precisely the packaging you want if you are buying ahead. Durico manufactures in South Korea, is FDA Registered, and holds ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and ISO 13485 certification.
For the full picture of which grade maps to which Sony model, the Sony ultrasound printer replacement paper compatibility index is the reference page.
What legacy media actually costs you
The financial argument for getting off an orphaned part number is less about sticker price and more about volatility. Sony OEM media typically runs roughly $90–$150 per 10-roll case from medical resellers, varying by grade, quantity and supplier — and that is the price for a part number in active production. Once a part number goes scarce, expect a premium on top plus unpredictable lead times, which is the part that actually hurts: a clinic that cannot print is a clinic rescheduling patients.
Durico positions its ULSTAR line at a savings of 25–30% compared to competing products, and current per-box pricing is listed live on each product page rather than quoted here, so what you see is always the real number. For a full cost breakdown by grade, see how much ultrasound thermal paper costs, Sony OEM vs compatible.
Frequently asked questions
Is Sony UPP-110S paper still being made?
The 110mm standard format is very much still in production across the industry — Durico manufactures its ULSTAR 1100S in 110mm × 20m as a documented equivalent to Sony UPP-110S (Type I). Availability of any specific OEM part number is a question for your OEM distributor, but the format itself is not obsolete.
Will Durico paper work in my Sony UP-890MD or UP-860MD?
Durico documents compatibility for its 110mm grades with the Sony UP-895 / 897 / 898 Series. Those legacy models are not on Durico's published list, so I will not claim they are compatible. Run the five-point verification checklist above, or send us the printer model and the old paper part number and we will tell you honestly whether it is a candidate.
My printer is end-of-life. Do I have to replace it?
Not necessarily. End-of-life means Sony has stopped manufacturing and factory-servicing the unit, not that it stops working. The practical question is whether you can reliably buy media for it. If you can, keep running it. If every reorder is an adventure, replacement is worth pricing out.
Can I use a 20m roll in a printer that came with 18m rolls?
Only if the paper bay accommodates the larger outer diameter. Same width, more paper, bigger roll. Measure the bay or test a single roll before ordering in quantity.
Does using compatible paper void my printer warranty?
If your printer is end-of-life, there is generally no active manufacturer warranty left to void. On in-warranty equipment, US law does not let a manufacturer void a warranty simply because you used third-party consumables — but damage attributable to a defective consumable is a different question, which is exactly why paper construction matters. The built-in anti-electrostatic layer in the ULSTAR line exists specifically to protect the thermal head.
What is the difference between UP-D890 and UP-890MD?
Sony's naming conventions encode format and market segment: "UP-" is the printer family, a "D" generally indicates a digital-input model versus an analog one, and "MD" designates the medical-market version. The paper each one takes is determined by the print engine, not by the suffix — which is why you check the paper part number, not just the printer name.
How should I store rolls if I buy ahead?
Cool, dry, dark, and sealed. Leave each roll in its foil pouch until it goes into the printer, keep boxes off concrete floors and away from heat sources and direct sunlight, and rotate stock oldest-first. Thermal media is chemically reactive by design; heat and humidity are what degrade it.
The bottom line
An orphaned paper part number feels like an emergency and usually is not one. The 110mm format is alive and produced in volume. In most cases the fix is either a quick fit verification or a modest printer consolidation onto the UP-895 / 897 / 898 Series. What you should not do is take an unverified compatibility claim at face value from anyone, including us — ask which manufacturer document it comes from, and if the answer is vague, keep asking.
Get the right roll the first time
Precision Imaging Supply stocks the full Durico ULSTAR line for the Sony UP-895 / 897 / 898 Series and the large-format UP-970 / 971 / 990 / 991AD units. If you are on a supported printer, start here:
- Sony UPP-110S compatible standard thermal paper (110mm × 20m) — the daily-driver grade for general clinical and veterinary scanning
- Sony UPP-110HD compatible high-density paper (110mm × 20m) — stronger grayscale separation for diagnostic review
- Sony UPP-110HG compatible high-gloss paper (110mm × 18m) — photorealistic keepsake and presentation prints
- Sony UPP-210HD compatible large-format paper (210mm × 25m) — for UP-970 / 971 / 990 / 991AD
Running something older and not sure what fits? Send the printer model and the old paper part number before you order. An honest "we can't confirm that" is worth more than a case of paper you have to ship back.
About Morgan Hayes
Morgan Hayes is the imaging supply specialist behind Precision Imaging Supply's resource center. With over a decade tracking the medical thermal printing market, Morgan helps imaging departments, OB/GYN clinics, veterinary practices, and independent ultrasound centers navigate the maze of printer-and-paper compatibility — including the Durico drop-in alternatives that save practices 30–50% versus OEM Sony media without compromising print quality.