Types Of Printers
What are the different types of printers? Printers are devices that are connected to computers to produce hard copies of the information that is shown on the computer screen. They are basically tools to print the computer display on paper. There are three different types of printers. These types of printers are the dot matrix, the inkjet, and the laser.
The dot matrix types of printers are printers that use impact to print. Here, the text or illustrations that you want to print are printed by striking pins through an ink ribbon. These pins are formed as closely spaced dots – hence the name of these types of printers, the dot matrix. The problem with the dot matrix printers is that they are expensive. Plus, many people do not like to use them as they do not and they cannot produce high quality prints. However, there is something that the dot matrix can do that both inkjets and lasers can’t – dot matrix types of printers are able to print multi page prints. There are three characteristics of the dot matrix printers that vary from others – speed, quality, and ink. The printing speed of dot matrix can vary from 50 to more than 500 characters per second. As per print quality, there are dot matrix printers that have 9 pins, some 18, and some 24 where the ones that produce the best prints are the ones with 24 pins. When it comes to ink, the dot matrix uses ribbon.
Compared to the inkjet and laser printers, the dot matrix is known to be the noisiest ones.
Next, the inkjet types of printers are those that work by using ionized ink. These ionized inks are then sprayed to the sheet of paper. To determine the text or illustrations to print, magnetized plates direct the ink to shape them. Compared to the dot matrix printers, the inkjet printers are able to produce better prints. The printing speed of inkjet printers are measured in pages per minute. Of course, the higher value of PPM means more pages are going to be printed at a given time. The print quality of the inkjet types of printers are measured in DPI or dots per inch. While the ink that these printers use are ink cartridges.
The third types of printers are the laser printers. These are the printers that use laser beams to produce the images that you want to print on a drum. Wherever the laser hits, the drum marks. When the drum rolls through the toner (or ink), the charged potions are then printed to the paper. The printing speed of laser printers is also measured by PPM or prints per minute. The print quality of these types of printers is determined through DPI as well. When it comes to the ink, the laser printers use toner cartridges.
Aside from the three main types of printers, there is also what we call hybrid printers. These are printers that can do many different things even as one device. These printers are the ones that can be photocopiers, fax machines, scanners, and printers at the same time. For most efficiency, these are the best picks.
