PRINTERS 20nd June 2011

INTRODUCTION What is a Printer? It is an output device that produces text and graphics on paper. Function - To present data on paper Types of Printer:- Inkjet Printer Laser Printer Dot-Matrix Printer Plotter

Dot Matrix Printer Consists of a print head with a number of pins. These pins move in and out to print a character in the form of dots. Printer speed - 100-800 per second (cps) Uses fanfold paper A fanfold paper is a long continuous paper with holes at the edges Printing quality depends on the printer resolution Printer resolution measures how closely the printer can print dots Measured in terms of dots per inch (dpi) Two types of printer quality Draft quality - uses low resolution Near letter quality - uses high resolution

Advantage and Disadvantage It is cheap Disadvantage Very noisy when printing

Ink Jet Printer Consists of a print head with a number of tiny nozzles. The ink is pushed through the tiny nozzles onto the paper to form tiny dots Uses A4 papers Printer speed - 2 to 10 pages per minute (ppm) Printer Resolution Draft quality Near letter quality - better quality than dot matrix because ink is darker

Advantages and Disadvantage Quiet when printing Lightweight Quite reliable Disadvantage Expensive than dot matrix printer

Laser Printer It prints images by transferring ‘ink powder’ onto a piece of paper using a laser beam Printer speed - 4 to 17 pages pages per minute (ppm) Printer resolution Draft quality Near Letter quality Letter quality

Advantages and Disadvantage Prints faster Better quality Disadvantage Very expensive

Differences between the Printers

Printer Type Dot Matrix Printer InkJet Printer Laser Printer COST SIZE Cheap Cheaper depends on quality and speed Expensive SIZE Bulky Lighter Heavy RESOLUTION Low/Draft quality Near letter quality Letter quality SPEED 100-400cps (Slow) 2-10ppm (Faster) 4-17ppm (Fastest) NOISE LEVEL Noisy Quiet Silence USED Ribbon Ink Cartridge Toner POPULARITY Less dependent Very Popular Slightly popular MECHANISM It has a print head with a number of pins. These pins move and form dots on paper A print head with a no of tiny nozzles. It uses melted wax in cartridge packing to form tiny dots Images are transformed onto a piece of paper with ‘mix powder’ using a laser beam

Plotter A device that draws picture on paper based on commands from a computer It differ from printers because plotter draws lines using a pen It can produce continuous lines, whereas printers can only simulate lines by printing a closely spaced series of dots Function - moves special pens across the paper to create a drawing or design Uses by Engineers, Architects and Designers

Types of Plotter Three types of Plotter Flatbed Plotters Drum Plotters Hold the paper still while the pens move Drum Plotters Roll the paper over a cylinder Pinch-Rollers Plotters Mixture of the two types above

Advantages and Disadvantages Speed - Faster than other printers Precision - Allows to print more precise lines Versatility -It can be hooked up to any computer Disadvantages Can take over half an hour to produce a print, depending on the size and complexity of the image produced Not able to print photo-quality images Cost a bit more than other printers Very large equipment