3 Basic Types of Non Impact Printer

Non Impact Printer

“Non Impact Printers print the text and graphics without striking the paper. These printers are based on new technology i.e. they can print using a laser beam or by spraying ink on the paper to produce high quality images and graphics”.

Technology has brought us far away from the sluggish and tardy old techniques that used to be quite time consuming and laborious as the world is growing faster and the passive and dragging techniques are not acceptable. Former printers were not very fast and efficient and based on old and exhausting techniques. The printing resolution was low thus producing low quality images and graphics on the paper.

Non Impact Printers provide quicker and high quality results in comparison with Impact Printers. Besides providing high quality outputs, these printers are less rowdy facilitating the users by giving them a calm and chilled environment to work in. The only inconvenience we can face using these printers is costly output we obtain from these printers. Also read What features should you look for in a Printer? for more information about printers.

Types of Non Impact Printers

Different types of non impact printers work on different conventions. Usually non impact printers print images and high resolution graphics by spraying ink, using laser beam, or by using heat and pressure. 3 basic types of Non Impact Printers are:

1. Laser Printer

2. Inkjet Printer

3. Thermal Printer

Let’s try to find out some more by explaining these examples of non impact printers in detail.

1. Laser Printer

Laser stands for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation. LaserPrinter working principle is comparable to that of a photocopying machine. As it has been named a laser printer, there must be a special role of laser in printing. Laser printer uses laser beams to burn a special powder ink on the page to print a particular image. This powder ink which is a main element in the process of printing text and images is usually contained in a toner.
Below described are a few Laser Printer features that can help us understand its printing characteristics in a better way.

• Speed

Laser printer is one of the most frequently utilized non impact printers. Speed of Laser printer is measured in pages per minute (ppm). The printing speed limit of color Laser printer for home and small offices ranges between 12 to 45 ppm. However, for extensive users, the printing speed of these printers can be extended to 150 ppm or more.

• Print Resolution

One of the most important and considerable key features of a printer is its printing resolution. Fine and quality printing is the foremost preference as blur and low quality images can have bad impacts on the customers. Laser printer can produce pictures of high quality resolution of 1200 Dots per Inch (DPI).

• Costly Output

Undoubtedly, high quality and speedy printing outputs are pricey in comparison with slow and scruffy printing outputs. Laser printers use toners containing powder ink that might be very expensive. However we would get permanent and sharp images on the paper using Laser printer.

2. Inkjet Printer

The working principle of these types of non impact printer is not identical to that of the previous one. The previously discussed printer i.e. the Laser printer uses laser beam to print the data and provided information on the paper. However in case of inkjet printers, the laser beam is not a source of printing output; as these types of printers use to print text and graphics by spraying tiny drops of ink on the paper. This ink is not in the powder form but is in the liquid form so that the drops might be sprayed to create a high quality image on the paper. Features of inkjet printers help us understand its working.

• Speed

In comparison with a Laser printer, the printing speed of inkjet printer is quite slow. The output can be delayed as the printing speed of these printers ranges between 10 and 35 pages per minute (ppm).

• Print Resolution

Inkjet printers can provide high resolution printed graphics and images of 600 DPI or more. Inkjet printers have the capability of producing quality graphics and images in both black and white and color forms.

• Print cost

Most often, the cost of printing depends upon how frequently ink refills are required in a printer. Inkjet printers consist of two print cartridges one of which contains black ink while the other one is filled with colored ink. High quality images are printed and hence the printing cost is quite high.

3. Thermal printer

Sometimes very high quality output can be achieved from thermal printers however sometimes the print quality is not very high. Thermal printers use the technique of heat and pressure to produce images on a special type of paper. Thermal printers use wax based ink that is burned on the paper using heat and pressure to produce images and graphics. Here we have its features.

• Print Resolution

These printers produce very high quality images and are specifically used for printing ATM receipts or the receipts used at retail stores and sometimes to print electronic tickets.

• Costly output

As the inked waxes are used for printing the images, these printers use some special type of coated paper that can withstand the heat and pressure used for melting the inked waxes. Thus very expensive outputs can be achieved from thermal printers.

These 3 basic types of Non Impact Printers have been utilized by people worldwide in different fields. People have got impressed tremendously by amazing features of non impact printers. Though costly, but non impact printers are the need of today's technology based environments.

For information about impact printers, read:  What is Impact Printer | Types of Impact Printer.

What features should you look for in a Printer?

"Computer"!!! Unquestionably a remarkable gadget, no one today is unaware of its use. However this machine is rightly functional if available along with all of its components necessary for getting input and providing output in an appropriate way. Those components of computer system that are meant for receiving input from the user are called input devices. You can study about different types of input devices here. whereas the components that are attached to a computer system for getting output are called output devices. Together these components make a computer system anincredible machine to take advantage of.

Printer

Usually, computers provide us a softcopy output which is displayed on the screen of monitor. This output shown on the computer screen is not tangible but we can save these output results on the hard disk for the later use. However, sometimes, the output is needed in hard copy form so that necessary working can be performed on it. For this purpose, computers have an output device called printer.

It’s better to explain “what is printer?” by giving a brief definition."Printer is an output device that is used to provide us a hard copy output i.e. it prints the characters, images, symbols etc on the paper. The resolution of a printed output is usually measured in dots per inch (dpi)".

What features should you look for in a Printer?

Best printer is the one having all important features so that it can provide best output to the users. Discussing multifarious attributes of a printer can help us understand how it works and that where we can take job from this useful output device:

• Easy to use

One of the most considerable features we keep in mind while purchasing any widget or computer device is its "user friendly interface", so that the naive users might not hesitate whenever they need to use that device. Moreover, the simpler the interface of a device, the quicker the results would be as the user won't need to spend a lot of time on understanding and requesting for getting the desired job from the respective device. As far as we talk about printers, they have been designed keeping the fact in mind that users should not face any kind of complications while using them. Hence printers with uncomplicated operative systems are more acceptable than those having troublesome functioning system.

• Reliable

Reliability of printers is very important. Unreliable printers may cause the papers to jam inside the device which may cause difficulty for the user to get the desired output on time. A smooth working printer can work for a long time which is very faithful for those users who want to print large amount of data at a time without any disturbance.

• Resolution

The higher the resolution of a printer, the more defined and high quality print out is obtained. The printing resolution is usually measured in dots per inch (DPI) i.e. the quality of an image or text printed on the paper depends upon the number of dots printed on the paper.

• Printing speed

"Never is better than late!”. It is highly considerable when we ask the question "what features should you look for in a printer?". Printing is a quite lengthier task and for that purpose, printers need to be quite faster and efficient. The printing speed of a printer is usually measured in pages per minute (ppm) or characters per second (cps).

• Operating cost

It is necessary to get to know about the operating cost of a printer before purchasing it. Sometimes printers might not very expensive on buying but they cause highly expensive print outs on their usage. It all depends upon how expensive and frequent ink refills a printer requires. The operating cost is often related to the type of printer i.e. Dot Matrix Printers use to print the text and graphics using inked ribbon. Hence such printers require the frequent replacement of inked ribbons. Similarly, Ink jet printers contain ink cartridges and Laser Printers require toner cartridge refill.

• Memory

Printers must have enough memory to store the data and instructions sent by a computer to be converted into hard copy form. The languages that are particularly used for communication between computers and printers are Printer Command Language (PCL) and PostScript Language.

• Network enabled

One of the major advantages of computer network is “resource sharing”. The expensive resources can be shared and utilized by various computers if they are connected through a network. Network enabled printers also provide this facility of resource sharing over the network. Printers that can be connected over the network can be utilized by more than one computer thus saving a lot of money.

• Duplex printing

Such printers are also available that can print on both sides of the paper. These printers are called Duplex Printers. These printers save money by saving paper. However, the printing process might slow down in such type of printers as the printer need to wait for the ink to get dry at one side of paper before printing the other side. So the terrible question that bothers you when you go for buying a printer is that what features should you look for in a printer and the feature of printer that is most important to know about is duplex printing as printing on both of sides of a page can saves your paper thus saving your money.