Seeing Hearing and Printing

Data
 What is a printer?
• A printer is an output device that produces
text and graphics on paper.
 Major types of printer
• impact printer (Dot Matrix)
– Impact printer produces text and images
when tiny wire pins on print head strike the ink
ribbon by physically contacting the paper
• Non-impact printer (Laser / Inkjet/ Thermal)
– Non-impact printer produces text and
graphics on paper without actually striking the
paper.
 Categories of printers
• Dot-matrix printers
• Inkjet printers
• Laser printers
• Thermal printers
 Printers and their uses
• Inkjet printers and laser printers are the
most popular printer types for home and
business use.
• Dot matrix printer was popular in 70’s and
80’s but has been gradually replaced by
inkjet printers for home use.
• Dot matrix printers are still being used to
print multi-part forms and carbon copies
for some businesses.
 Dot-matrix printers
• Dot-matrix printer is an impact printer
• It produces text and graphics when tiny wire pins
on the print head strike the ink ribbon.
• The print head runs back and forth on the paper
like a typewriter.
• When the ink ribbon presses on the paper, it
creates dots that form text and images.
• Higher number of pins means that the printer
prints more dots per character, thus resulting in
higher print quality.
 Dot-matrix printers [Cont.]
• Dot matrix printers have a horizontally moving head with a vertical
line of pins mounted inside.
• An inked ribbon is located between the head and the paper and as
the head moves the pins strike the ribbon to form each character as
a series of dots.
• The best quality printers have heads with 24 pins and low quality
ones have 9 pins (although by making two passes and shifting the
head half a pin pitch between them they can effectively act as as a
18 pin head).
• As these printers can produce small dots anywhere on the paper
most support graphics and have software fonts.
• Dot matrix printers are quite noisy but can be cheap.
• They are mostly for low to medium quality, low volume personal use.
• They are obsolete now.
Advantages of dot matrix printer
1) Can print on multi-part forms or carbon
copies
2) Low printing cost per page
3) Can be used on continuous form
paper, useful for data logging
4) Reliable, durable
 Disadvantages of dot matrix
printer
1) Noisy
2) Limited print quality
3) Low printing speed
4) Limited color printing
 Inkjet printers
• Inkjet printers are non-impact printers which print text and images by
spraying tiny droplets of liquid ink onto paper.
• The inkjet head design is also divided into two main groups:
– Fixed-head
• Fixed-head is built into the printer and should last for the whole life of the
printer.
• It produces more accurate output than cheap disposable head.
• The ink cartridges for fixed head printers are also cheaper as the print head
does not need to be replaced.
• If the head is damaged, the entire printer has to be replaced.
– Disposable head.
• Disposable head is included in replacement ink cartridge.
• It is replaced each time an ink cartridge runs out of ink.
• This increases the cost of ink cartridges and also limits the use of high
quality print head in these cartridges.
• A damaged print head is not a problem as one can easily replace it with a
new ink cartridge.
 Ink Jet [Cont.]

• Ink jet printers have a movable head that can spray fine
drops of ink directly on to the paper.
• Some have multiple heads carrying coloured inks with
the best ones providing a wide range of colours.
• As the paper and the head never come into contact they
are very quiet.
• However they are also rather slow.
• They are generally cheaper than laser printers and are
suitable for all types of high quality low volume work.
Advantages of inkjet printers
1) Low cost
2) High quality of output, capable of printing fine
and smooth details
3) Capable of printing in vivid color, good for
printing pictures
4) Easy to use
5) Reasonably fast
6) Quieter than dot matrix printer
7) No warm up time
 Disadvantages of inkjet printers
1) Print head is less durable, prone to clogging and
damage
2) Expensive replacement ink cartridges
3) Not good for high volume printing
4) Printing speed is not as fast as laser printers
5) Ink bleeding, ink carried sideways causing blurred
effects on some papers
6) Aqueous ink is sensitive to water, even a small drop of
water can cause blurring
7) Cannot use highlighter marker on inkjet printouts
 Laser printers
• Laser printers are non-impact printers which can print text and images in
high speed and high quality resolution, ranging from 600 to 1200 dpi.
• laser printer use toner (black or colored powder) instead of liquid inks.
• A laser printer consists of these major components:
– drum cartridge,
– rotating mirror,
– toner cartridge
– Roller
• The drum cartridge rotates as the paper is fed through.
• The mirror deflects laser beam across the surface of the drum.
• Laser beam creates charge that causes the toner to stick to the drum.
• As the drum rotates and presses on paper, toner is transferred from the
drum to paper, creating images.
• Rollers then use heat and pressure to fuse toner to paper. Colored laser
printers add colored toner in three additional passes.
 Laser Printers [Cont.]
• In a laser printer, paper is given an electro-static
charge by passing it over a charged drum and
then a laser scans it discharging all clear areas.
• Next the paper is passed over a tray of
powdered ink (toner) which is attracted to the
charged areas.
• Finally the ink is bonded to the paper by heat or
pressure.
• Laser printers are quiet and are used for high
quality low or high volume work.
 Advantages of laser printers
1) High resolution
2) High print speed
3) No smearing
4) Low cost per page (compared to inkjet
printers)
5) Printout is not sensitive to water
6) Good for high volume printing
 Disadvantages of laser printers
1) More expensive than inkjet printers
2) Except for high end machines, laser
printers are less capable of printing
vivid colors and high quality images
such as photos.
3) The cost of toner replacement and
drum replacement is high
4) Bulkier than inkjet printers
5) Warm up time needed
 Thermal Printers
• The use of thermal printers is limited to
ATM, cash registers and point-of-sales
terminals.
• Some label printers and portable printers
also use thermal printing.
• Thermal printers use two types of printing
technologies:
– Direct thermal
– Thermal transfer
 Direct thermal
• Traditional thermal printers use direct thermal
method by pushing electrically heated pins
against heat-sensitive paper (thermal paper).
• The coating on the thermal paper turns black in
the areas where it is heated, producing
characters or images.
• Direct thermal printers have no ink, toner or
ribbon.
• These printers are durable, easy to use and cost
less to print than other printers
 Thermal transfer
• In thermal transfer printing, a thermal print
head applies heat to a heat-sensitive
ribbon,
• Ribbon melts ink onto paper and a wide
range of materials to form text and
images.
• The printouts can be extremely durable
and can be stored over long period of
time.
 Specialty Printers
• Some printers are named because they are
designed for specific functions, such as
– Photo printers,
– Portable printers
– All-in-one / Multifunction printers.
• Photo printers and portable printers usually use
inkjet print method
• Multifunction printers may use inkjet or laser
print method
 Photo printer
• Photo printers are color printers that produce
photo lab quality pictures on photo paper.
• They can also be used to print documents.
• These printers have a very high number of
nozzles and can print very fine droplets for
improved image quality.
• Some photo printers also have media card
readers. They can print 4” x 6” photos directly
from the media card of digital cameras without a
computer in between.
 Portable printer
• Portable printers are small, lightweight inkjet or
thermal printers that allow computer users to
print from laptop computers when traveling.
• They are easy to carry, convenient to use but
generally more expensive than normal inkjet
printers due to the compact design.
• Their printing speed is also lower than normal
printers.
• Some portable printers are designed to print
photos immediately from digital cameras and are
known as portable photo printers.
 Multi Function / All-in-One
Printers
• Multifunction printer (MFP) is also known as all-in-one
printer or multifunction device (MFD).
• It is a machine that includes several functionalities
including printer, scanner, copier and fax.
• Multifunction printer is very popular in SoHo (small office
/ home office) offices.
• It can use either inkjet or laser print method.
• Some multifunction printers also have media card
readers, allowing printing of pictures directly from digital
cameras without using a computer.
 Advantages / Disadvantages of
Multi Function
• Advantages of multifunction printers:
– Low cost – it is often cheaper to buy a multifunction
printer than individual components (fax machine,
scanner, printer, copier) separately
– Take up less room
• Disadvantages of multifunction printers:
– If one component is broken, the entire machine has to
be replaced
– Failure in any component will affect other functions
– The print quality and speed may be lower than some
stand alone components
 Daisy Wheel
• On a daisy-wheel printer the complete set of characters is
held on a removable wheel which consists of a central collar
radiating out from which are a set of spokes, each ending in a
single character.
• The wheel spins round to align the required character with a
single hammer.
• The hammer and wheel assembly move across the paper
striking it through an inked ribbon.
• These printers can produce high quality output but are limited
to the range of characters on the wheel.
• Changing wheels is simple, this provides alternative fonts, but
is no substitute if a wide range of fonts is required.
• They are quiet noisy and are used for low volume office work.
They are obsolete now.
 Line Printer
• Line printers have a spinning horizontal drum that
stretches the full width of the paper which is separated
from it by an inked ribbon.
• The drum is made up of 132 thin cylinders each having a
complete set of characters.
• Behind the paper is a row of 132 hammers that strike the
paper at the right moment to select the required
character from the corresponding cylinder.
• In this way it is able to print a complete line at a time.
• Line printers are used for high volume low quality output
and are very noisy. They are obsolete now.
 Band Printer
• A band printer features a rotating band
embossed with alphanumeric characters.
• Machine rotates the band to the desired
character then a small hammer taps the
band pressing a character against a ribon.
• These are very fast speed printers.
• Generated 2000 lines of text per minute.
 Plotter
• Used to print large format images such as
construction drawing, maps
• Early plotters were mechanical devices
that used robotic arms, which drew the
images .
– Table Plotters (Flatbed plotters, Used two
arms)
– Roller Plotters (Drum Plotters, used one arm)