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Types of Printers

These are most commonly used output devices used to get prints of documents on the paper. The output printed on the paper is called hard copy. The hard copy is also called as print out. The print out resolution is measured in dots per inch. A printer is connected to a parallel port or a USB port of a system unit by a cable.

Different printers have different printing mechanisms. Therefore printers are callisified into 2 categories depending upon their printing mechanisms. These are:

1. Impact Printers
2. Non-Impact Printers

1. Impact Printers

An impact printer prints characters and graphics on the paper with the strikes of hammer on a ribbon. A simple example of an impact printer is typewriter, which uses small hammers to strike the ribbon. Each hammer is embosed witht the shape of alphanumeric character; that shape is printed on the paper through inked ribbon. there are many types of impact printers but the most popular and commonly used is the dot matrix printer.

2. Non-Impact Printers

Thr printers that produce the output on a paper without striking the paper are known as non-impact printers. They use electro static, chemicals, ink jet and thermal technologies for printing. The main features of non-impact printers are:

• Faster than impact printers.
• Print high quality output.
• Produce no noice during printing.

The examples of non-impact printers are; Laser printer, Inkjet printers etc.

Dot Matrix Printer

In the early years, the dot matrix were the most commonly used printing devices. Dot matrix printer is an impact character printer. A dot matrix printer makes a hard copy by printing one character at a time.

A dot matrix printer prints output on a paper by using a mechanisms called a print haead, which contains a matrix of tiny pins arranged in rows and columns. On receiving instructions from computer, the printer can push any of the pins out in any combination. It prints each character or any symbol as pattern of dots. When pins on head strikes on inked ribbon, it creates dots that form characters and graphics. Typically a print head contains 9 to 24 pins. The print quality depends on the number of pins that a print head contains. The higher number of pins means the printer prints more dots per character so that the print out quality is higher. The low quality dot matrix printers print head contain 9 pins while the high quality printers print head contains 24 pins.

Dot matrix printer can use tractor feed paper also called continuous feed paper, in which sheets of paper are joined together end to end. The pages have holes along the sides to help feed the paper thurough the paper.

The speed of dot matrix printer is measured by the number of characters per second (CPS) it can print. The speed of dot matrix printer is from 52 to 500 CPS. The printing quality is measured in dot per inch (DPI). In dot matrix printer, it is about 100 to 300 dpi.

Inkjet Printer

The Inkjet printer is non-impact chracter printer and prints one character at a time. The Inkjet printer has fine spray nozzles that create the image of character or graphics on the paper (without striking the paper) by spraying tiny or small drops on inks onto the paper.

The print head of Inkjet printer contains ink filled print cartridges. Each cartridge has fifty to several hundreds small ink nozzles. Each nozzle in the printer cartridge is similar to an individual pin on a dot matrix printer. The combination of the nozzles is actviated to form the shape of character or image on the paper. Most Inkjet printers have at least 2 print cartridges: one containing black ink and the other containg colour. A single cartridge can print upto 300 pages. You can re-fill the cartridge.

Colour Inkjet printer has 4 ink nozzles: Blue, Rad, Yellow and Black. These 4 colours are used in almost all colour printing because it is possible to combine them to create any colour. Inkjet printers have become the most popular type of colour printers for use in offices and busniess because of their lower cost.

The printing quality of Inkjet printer is measured by the number of tiny ink of drops per inch (dpi) it can spray. Most Inkjet printers range from 300 to 2400 dpi. Printers with higher dpi usually are more expensive but having high printing quality.

The speed of an Inkjet printer is measured by the number of pages per minute (ppm) it can print. Its printing speed upto 15 ppm.

In the early years, the Inkjet printers needed a special paper, and each sheet had to dry before you could touch it. Today you can use normal photo copy paper and the ink is dry within a few seconds. Inkjet printers normally uses individual sheets of paper places in a removable or stationary tray.

Laser Printer

A Laser printer is the fastest and high quality non-impact printer. Laster printers are most expensive than Inkjet printers and their print quality is also higher. The print quality and printing speed of Laser printers make them ideal for offices and business.

Laser printers work like photo copiers. A Laser printer create images on the paper using a laser beam and powered ink called toner. The laser beam produces an image on a special drum inside the printer. The laser printer uses heat and pressure to transfer the image from drum to the paper. Laser printers for personal computers use individual sheets of paper placed in a removable tray.

The Laser printer can print text and graphics in very high quality resolution. The commonly used Laser printers have resolution of 300 or 600 dpi. The printing speed is from 5 to 30 ppm. The high quality Laser printers have resolution of 300 or 600 dpi. The printing speed is from 5 to 30 ppm. The high quality Laser printers have resolution from 600 to 2400 dpi. The printing speed of these printers is also more than 150 ppm.

The price of Laser printer depends on the quality and printing speed. The colour printers are most costly than black and white Laser printers. The higher the resolution and speed the more expensive the printer.

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