- They are used to print documents on paper (output).
- The term “hardcopy” is also used to refer to a printout.
- The output may consist of letters, symbols, or graphics.
Different Types of Printer Based on their Working
on the base working printer can be divided into different categories and below are the most common types of printer
Printer can be divided into two types
- Impact Printer
- Non-Impact Printer
What is Impact Printer? and how they work
Impact Printers
A printer that produces output on paper by striking a print hammer or set of pins against an inked ribbon is called an impact printer
It works like a typewriter. It uses an electro-mechanical technique to print output on the paper.
- It can print characters and graphics on the paper.
- Slower in printing and produce low-quality output.
- Printing speed of these printers is measured in characters or lines per minute. They also produce more noise during printing.
- However, impact printers are less expensive
- Today impact printers are not commonly used
Example of Impact Printer
Dot Matrix, Daisy Wheel Printer and Line printer are common example
Character Printers(Impact Printer)
Character printer is one of the most common type of impact printer. Produced one character at a time
Printers that produce hardcopy by printing one character at a time are called character printers
In the past, character printers were very popular .They were commonly used with personal computers to print the information on paper
- Today, they are rarely used
- Dot Matrix Printer
- It makes a hardcopy by printing one character at a time
- Speed is measured by the number of characters it can print in one second
- Printing speed 🡪 from 300 to 1100 characters per second (cps) or more
Dot Matrix Printer
Dot matrix printer is also the type of Impact printer and prodded output by striking on paper
A dot matrix printer contains a print-head with a matrix of small pins arranged in rows and columns (in the form of a matrix) Print-heads are available with 9, 18, or 24 pins.
- Printout quality of these printers is not better
- They also produce more noise while printing output
Daisy Wheel Printer
Its work like a typewriter. It has a print wheel with a series of petals This wheel is known as the daisy wheel
Each petal of the daisy wheel contains a character at its end
A motor rotates the wheel When the desired character reaches the print position on the paper, a hammer strikes a petal against the ribbon
- Slower than the dot-matrix printer
- However, its print quality is better than the dot matrix printer
Line Printers(Impact Printer)
Very fast printer It prints a complete line of characters at a time.
- Printing speed is measured in lines per minute (lpm) which is up to 3000 lines per minute
- Line printers are normally used with mainframe and minicomputers
What are Non-Impact Printers? How They Work
A printer that produces output on paper without striking the paper is called a non-impact printer
Non-impact printers use electrostatic, inkjet, laser, and thermal technologies for printing
- Non-impact printers are faster and produce high-quality output than impact printers
- They produce no noise during printing
- These printers are costly than impact printers
Laser Printer (Light Amplification by Simulated Emission of Radiation)
A laser printer is the fastest and high-quality non-impact printer Laser printers are available in both black-and-white and color models.
Today, laser printers are commonly used for printing different types of documents
- Laser printer prints one page at a time therefore called page printer
- A laser printer works like a photocopying machine
- It uses laser technology to print image of output on the paper
- It uses a LASER beam and ink powder called toner to transfer image on paper
Ink-Jet Printer
Inject printer is one of the most common type of Non Impact printer
It creates output on paper by spraying tiny drops of liquid ink It can print text and graphics in both black-and-white and color
Printing speed is measured by number of pages per minute (ppm), it can print (it means that it is a page printer)
- Most ink-jet printers can print 12 to 36 pages per minute
- However, they print graphics and colors at a slower rate
- Most inkjet printers have resolution ranging from 1200 to 4800 dpi (dot per inch)
- With an inkjet printer, a dot is a drop of ink
- Low price, slower, low print quality than laser printers
- However, faster and have high print quality than dot-matrix printers
Thermal Printer(Non Impact Printer)
It prints information on heat-sensitive paper by pushing electrically heated pins. Basic thermal printers are not very expensive, but their print quality is low
These printers are typically used to print receipts at ATMs and retail stores, electronic tickets at airports, tokens at banks, and other public places. Modern thermal printers have high print quality
Difference Between Impact and Non Impact Printer
| Impact Printer | Non Impact Printer |
| Print output by directly striking the print hammer or wheel against an inked ribbon | Print output without striking the paper with a print hammer |
| Slower in printing | Fast in Printing |
| Have low print quality | Have High print quality |
| Use an ink ribbon for printing output | Use powdered ink or liquid ink for printing output |
| Printing speed is measured in characters or lines per minute | Printing speed is measured in pages per minute |
FAQS
which of the following printer types is considered an impact printer
Character printer, Line Printer, Drum are consider the most common types of impact printer because they print by striking on the paper.
what are the different types of printer
On the base of working printer can be divided two type
Impact and Non Impact printer