CHAPTER II
PRINTER WORLD – AN OVERVIEW
2.1 Printer – A printer is a peripheral which produces a text and/or graphics of
documents stored in electronic form, usually on physical print media such as paper or
transparencies.
2.2 Types of printer
2.2.1 Impact printer - Device that makes use of mechanical impact to print characters
onto paper. Typewriters come within this definition but the term is not usually applied to
machines that are only operated through a keyboard. A character may be formed by
impacting an inked ribbon against the paper with an engraved type character.
Types of impact printer –
a). Dot Matrix
A dot-matrix printer has rows of electromagnetic pins that move to strike the ribbon of
ink to form letters and punctuation symbols. It is a loud machine, since it requires strong
pressure from the pins to imprint readable text.
b). Daisy Wheel
A daisy-wheel printer works like a manual typewriter. It has upper/lower case letters and
punctuation-symbol keys in a raised stamp form on plastic wheels. The wheels turn until
the correct character lines up and strikes the ink on the printer ribbon, forming words on
the page.
c).Line Printer
A line printer uses a long drum imprinted with raised characters. As the drum rotates,
words are formed on the page. The drum moves in a horizontal direction, printing one
line at a time. Line printers have limited font availability and no graphic capability. Due
to their design, they require special paper with pre-punched holes on the sides that attach
to the printer by raised grooves.
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2.2.2 Non Impact printer - A type of printer that does not operate by striking a head
against a ribbon.Examples of non impact printers include laser and ink-jet printers. The
term non impact is important as it distinguishes quiet printers from noisy (impact)
printers.
Types of non impact printers –
a). Thermal transfer printer
In these type of printers, ink dies from a heated printing element.Thermal transfer printers
use wax to transfer an image to a page.
b). Inkjet printer
Ink jet printers spray electrically charged ink through tiny nozzles in the printing
element. The ink passes through an electrically charged field that forms the image in
matrix form. These printers offer very high-quality resolution and print up to 300 cps.
c). Laser printer
A laser printer directs a beam of light that electrically charges an image on a
photosensitive drum. Toner attracts and adheres to the dots on the drum and a heating
element fixes the image on the paper. These printers can print in excess of 20,000 lines
per minute.
d). Wax printer
Wax printers use a ribbon of thin transparent wax. Ribbons are available in color and are
useful for transparencies.
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