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However, if we are printing on a silver-based paper we know that the
paper can handle maybe 5 stops at best. Therefore, we either process our
film to increase contrast, or we use a high-contrast paper. Either way,
what we have done is "squash" the ten stops of information into the 5
stop range of the paper.
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This is just not true. You can print anything that you have recorded on a
negative onto ordinary photo paper. This is hardly surpising as you are
using the same process - both are silver gelatine. We may often choose not
to but that is quite different.
However, when you use the term 'stops' about the negative, what do you mean?
A range of 5 stops in the subject brightness can correspond to a range of
negative density of 0.2 or 2.0 (etc) in a negative depedning on the contrast
to which you develop it.
Most platinum prints are made from negatives than will print without
problems on silver gelatine, both recording the full range of tones in the
negative. Of course the prints will not look the same, but it isn't because
the platinum can handle more tones (if anything the reverse is true as you
have a larger print density range to work within in silver).
It is possible to make silver gelatin negatives that have a greater density
range than you can handle on normal photo paper. It would be possible to
make silver gelatine emulsions that would have sufficiesntly low contrast to
handle this (or you could use outdated paper!) but there is no advantage in
doing so. The number of tones you get is largely a function of the density
range of the print medium (with some allowance for its surface, the
illumination you use to view it etc.) It is probably not of great importance
in comparing the qualities of prints from the various processes with which
we are concerned and is in any case a competition in which silver gelatine
would beat platinum, gum, cyanotyupe, kallitype, though possibly not some
carbon prints.
I hope this clarifies some of the area under discussion.
Peter