printing - How to produce a huge photograph on a hard surface?

What are ways to get a trouble-free photo-quality image on a large hard surface?

It's been a while I am considering selling panoramas between 6 and 12 feet wide on Neoluminance but I have been troubled by difficulties creating a product that is:

1. Photographic quality equal to professional prints. At least 240dpi with a full color-gamut and tonality range.


2. Rigid but not too heavy for easy hanging and handling.


3. Smooth and bubble-free.


4. Durable as professional prints.

Most of my efforts involve getting a print done by a large-format printer and fixing it to corrugated plastic, acid-free foam-core, cardboard and the like. Troubles spots:

1. Fixing the photo perfectly to the backing without creating bubbles or folds.


2. Insufficient rigidity. Corrugated plastic was good, the other backings no.


3. Too heavy. Lamination is not available at the needed sizes, but already too heavy at smaller sizes.


4. Some places were not capable of cutting to exact dimensions and only supplied fixed aspect-ratio media.