The printer is the second most popular output device after the monitor which
is widely used worldwide. Many types of printers are available in the market
and each one has its advantages and disadvantages. Not all printers provide
all the functions we need, and even if it does, it may unnecessarily ask us
for an additional price. Therefore, it is necessary to know the different
printer types and choose the right among them by paying the right price.
This article discusses all about the printers and the different types of
printers available in the market. In addition, it describes which type of
printer is best to choose for home and office purposes and what factors to
consider before getting a particular printer.
What You Will Learn
What is a Printer?
By the definition of a printer, “a printer is defined as an electromechanical output device, which is used
to accept data from computers and make hard copies/ prints of data on
physical means, such as texts and graphics on a paper”.
Many modern printers come with support for 2D and 3D printing. 2D printing
mainly refers to printing texts and graphics on paper. In addition, 3D
printing refers to making three-dimensional prints on physical objects such as
mugs, T-shirts, etc.
Note: The operating speed of the printer is usually calculated as
PPM (pages per minute). Additionally, the printer's resolution is
measured in DPI (dots per inch). The higher the PPM and DPI, the better
the printer performance and print quality.
The printer is connected to a computer so that it can be given a command to
print the data on paper. Although printers provide us various interfaces for
connecting printers to computer systems, nowadays the most common types
include Wi-Fi and USB. One (Wi-Fi) is wireless, while the other (USB) is a
wired connection, allowing printers to be called
wireless and
wired printers, respectively.
• Wired Printers: Printers that use wires to connect to computers are called wired printers.
Wired printers are connected using a
USB
connection.
• Wireless Printers: Printers that do not use wires to connect to computers are called wireless
printers. Wireless printers are connected using a
WIFI
connection.
How many types of printers are used in a computer?
Printers can be of different types and sizes with different functionalities
and characteristics. However, all printers can be broadly classified into the
following two types:
• Impact Printers
• Non-Impact Printers
Impact Printers
Impact printers are printers that typically use a specific type of hammer with
which the print heads are attached. When the print command is given, the
hammer pushes the print heads onto the ink ribbon. Print heads have different
characters, and therefore, they help the ink ribbon to draw the corresponding
character on the paper that is placed near the ink ribbon.
Most impact printers are incompatible with printing images or graphics.
Besides, they use electromechanical components that make a lot of noise and
work relatively slowly compared to modern printers, making these printers
almost obsolete nowadays. However, they cost less and are therefore considered
the best for bulk printing.
Impact printers are mainly categorized into the following two types:
• Character Printers
• Line Printers
Let us discuss both types of impact printers:
Character Printers
Character printers are defined as impact printers that typically print only
one character at a time. That means, these printers use a single stroke of a
hammer or print head at a time. That's why character printers are slow and
cannot print the entire line at once.
Character printers are further categorized into the following two types:
• Dot Matrix Printers: Dot matrix printers, also known as pin printers, are the most popular type
of impact printer. These printers have a matrix of pins on their print heads
to create characters or graphics.
Dot-matrix printers usually have 9 to 24 pins in the print head. Thus, they
typically print a character using multiple dots created with pins. The more
pins in a dot matrix printer, the faster the performance and the better the
print quality. Carbon (ink ribbon) is positioned in such a way that it lies
between pins and the paper.
When the print head reaches the correct position, the pins strike individually
on the ribbon, which then produces a print on the paper. In dot matrix
printers, the print mechanism moves both directions (left to right and right
to left) throughout the print line. To make a color print, ribbon soaked in
black ink can be replaced with colored stripes. Dot-matrix printers are cheap
and usually print 100–600 characters per second.
• Daisy Wheel Printers: Daisy wheel printers are impact printers used primarily to achieve the
quality found with typewriters. Because these printers have a mechanism that
looks like a daisy (a flower), they are named daisy wheel printers. More
specifically, these printers have a wheel/disc that includes print heads and
the ends of these print heads have a molded metal character. The overall
arrangement looks like daisy petals.
When the print command is given, the printer rotates the disk with all its
associated characters. As soon as the desired character arrives at the correct
print location, the hammer hits the disc and the corresponding character hits
the ink ribbon to produce a character on a paper.
Besides, daisy wheel printers are not compatible with printing images or
graphics. These printers typically have a speed of about 25–55 characters per
second.
Line Printers
Line printers, also called
bar printers, are defined as impact printers that usually print an entire line at a time.
This means that these printers use multiple strokes of a hammer with different
print heads at once.
Unlike character printers, line printers are faster and can also print up to
6,000 lines per minute. Apart from this, line printers are incompatible for
printing images or graphics. Because of this, these printers are rarely seen
in today's time.
Line printers are further categorized into the following types:
• Drum Printers: The drum printer consists of a rotating cylindrical drum with a circular
band of characters on its surface. In particular, the surface is divided into
tracks equal to the size of the supported printing paper. Tracks have
characters set on them. Additionally, the drum printer has a separate hammer
for each set of characters.
When the print command is given, the drum rotates and when the desired
character reaches under the hammer, the hammer quickly strikes the ink ribbon
against the paper to print the corresponding character. The paper is placed in
such a way that it lies between the hammer and the ribbon of ink. The
character is embossed on paper due to the hammer pressure.
As soon as the line is printed, the paper is moved upwards to print the next
line. Each rotation of the drum prints only one line. Drum printers are not
compatible with printing graphics. Although their printing speed is quite fast
(i.e., 300 - 2,000 lines per minute), they make a lot of noise.
• Chain Printers: The chain printer consists of a revolving chain with characters set on its
surface. These printers typically have a character set of 48, 64, or 96
characters. The chain is connected using gears in such a way that it can
rotate horizontally. Like drum printers, chain printers also have several
hammers; the total number of hammers is exactly equal to the number of print
positions.
When the print command is given, the chain rotates with its respective
characters. As soon as the desired character reaches the correct print
position, the hammer strikes the ink ribbon against the paper and the
corresponding character on the chain. In this way, the ink ribbon creates the
impression of the corresponding character on paper.
Chain printers are not compatible with printing graphics. However, they can
print 300 - 500 lines of characters per minute. Like other impact printers,
chain printers also make a lot of noise.
• Band Printers: Band printers, also known as
belt printers, are almost identical to chain printers. But instead of using a chain, band
printers use a steel band with a relatively small number of hammers. Fonts,
such as characters and time marks, are etched on the surface of a steel band.
The hammers are located on a pump, which travel to the precisely correct
positions around the page while printing. When these hammers reach the correct
position, they strike the ribbon, which is then rolled onto the band. As a
result, the characters on the band are printed on paper that is placed between
the ink ribbon and the band.
The font styles/ sizes can be changed in these printers by changing the band.
Band printers are considered superior to drum printers in terms of price and
performance.
Non-Impact Printers
Non-impact printers have no hammer to hit the print heads on the ink ribbon.
These types of printers do not even use ink ribbon to produce prints. Instead,
non-impact printers use various technologies such as laser, electrostatic,
xerographic, chemical, or inkjet.
Unlike impact printers, internal machinery components of non-impact printers
typically do not make any direct contact with the paper. Non-impact printers
use efficient mechanisms to produce full-page prints at once. This is why
non-impact printers are sometimes called
page printers.
Non-Impact printers are mainly categorized into the following types:
Inkjet Printers
Inkjet printers are non-impact printers that are widely used by home users and
small businesses. These printers make prints by spraying a pattern of ink
droplets on the paper with the help of a nozzle or jet. A nozzle has small
holes to eject small droplets of ink. Inkjet printers use a special type of
ink that usually contains iron material.
As the ink exits the nozzle, the ink droplets are electrically charged after
passing through a valve. The direction of the droplets is controlled using
electrically charged horizontal and vertical deflection plates to drop them
into the correct area on the paper. Due to the electric field, the droplets
are printed at the desired locations, forming the corresponding letter/shape.
Inkjet printers store ink in cartridges. These printers can also produce color
prints. For colored inkjet printers, individual cartridges are assembled into
printers that can store different colors. Generally, most inkjet printers use
four primary colors, such as black, yellow, cyan, and magenta. Thus, color
prints are produced by mixing these four colors.
Laser Printers
Laser printers are non-impact printers, typically using laser or non-impact
photocopier technology to produce the dots needed to print text or images on
paper. When the print command is given, the laser beam produces a text or
image structure on a selenium-coated drum by controlling the electric charges.
Once the drum is fully charged, it is rolled into a toner (dry ink powder) and
the charged image particles pick up the toner. After that, the toner is
printed on paper using some heat and pressure. Once printed, additional
amounts of toner are collected as well as electric charges are removed from
the drum.
Laser printers can produce extremely high-resolution prints. This can vary
from 300 dpi to 1200 dpi depending on system capacity and memory availability.
The higher the DPI, the higher the memory usage and the better the quality.
The use of high voltages in these printers causes some carbon emissions. They
are still in widespread use in large offices or companies due to their
efficient performance compared to other printers.
Thermal Printers
Thermal printers use a specific heat-sensitive paper and they produce prints
by pushing electrically heated pins onto the paper. The paper used in these
printers has a special heat-sensitive coating. It starts getting dark as it
gets hot. Therefore, when the hot pins are pushed onto paper, the area
concerned becomes darker.
In a thermal printer, the heating element is heated using an electric current.
Besides, each character is printed by joining a matrix of dots formed by hot
pins. To print characters, the print head is moved to the starting position of
the first character. After that, the heat elements of that particular
character are turned on, which further help to create a print of the
character.
Once the first character is printed, the print head moves to the starting
position of the second character and repeats the same process again. The
heating elements are switched off in a very short period of time when they are
not in use. Thermal printers are also known as
electrothermal printers, thermal transfer printers, or thermal wax-transfer printers.
List of Other Popular Printers
Although the printers discussed above are fairly common, many other printers
are available in the market and even often coming up with new technologies and
techniques over time. Some such printers are discussed below:
LED Printers
In terms of components, LED printers are almost identical to laser printers.
These printers also use ink, toner, spinning drum, and fuser systems to make
monochrome or color prints. However, instead of using lasers, LED printers
make use of light-emitting diodes. In this way, the source light makes the LED
printer different from the laser printer.
LED printers are not currently so popular as inkjet and laser printers, but
they are widely used due to their benefits over other printers. For example,
LED printers are considered more effective than laser printers due to the
lightweight, compact size, and the functioning of a small number of moving
parts.
Photo Inkjet Printers
Photo inkjet printers provide the opportunity to work with different print
sizes for photos. They are best known for printing photos with efficient
quality and make photos stand out from photos printed with other printers.
Photo printers are relatively expensive compared to traditional inkjet
printers. The main reason for their expensive cost is the type of ink used in
these printers and the fact that they can be both dye and pigment-based. Photo
printers are mainly used by photographers. Nowadays, portable photo printers
are also available, allowing us to print photos directly from a tablet or
smartphone.
Multifunction Printers
As the name suggests, multifunction printers are designed in such a way that
they can perform various tasks, such as printing, scanning, copying, and
faxing. These printers are also known as 'all-in-one printers'. Since these printers come with different functions, they are best suited
for businesses with a limited budget.
Multifunction printers can be installed in a relatively small space compared
to placing multiple devices, such as printers, scanners, faxes, etc. Thus, the
multifunction printer eliminates the need to purchase more than one device and
allows users to complete multiple tasks. These printers can also be controlled
using their control systems without the need to connect them to the computer.
They can be wired, wireless, or with both supports.
3D Printers
3D printers are advanced printers that are used to produce three-dimensional
objects. Instead of printing on paper like other printers, 3D printers create
a three-dimensional model of various materials, such as plastics, polymers,
metal alloys, or even food materials. These printers typically use
high-quality resins to create 3D objects.
While 3D printers were introduced by
Chuck Hull in 1984, they have been
used primarily for large-scale industrial requirements. Nowadays, these
printers are available at very affordable prices, making these printers
beneficial for people to produce household products or replacement parts, etc.
Plotter
Plotters are the type of large format printers that allow us to print
relatively large graphics. Due to this, these printers are quite expensive and
require more space than other printers. Unlike regular printers, the plotter
can also print vector graphics on cardboard, film, fabric, and other synthetic
surfaces.
A plotter usually derives a vector design from a computer's graphic card and
interprets it for printing. Instead of ink or toner like other printers, the
plotter typically uses a pencil, colored pen, marker, and other writing tools
to draw a continuous line between different points to create the entire
design.
Classification of Printers based on Printing Speed
Based on the printing speed, printers can be classified into the following
three types:
• Serial Printers: Serial Printers include all such printers that print character by
character. The speed of those printers is measured in characters per second.
Their speed can range from one character per second to a few hundred
characters per second.
• Line Printers: As the name suggests, line printers are printers that print line by line.
The speed of those printers is measured in lines per minute. For some
printers, such as non-impact printers, their speed can reach up to a thousand
lines in a minute.
• Page Printers: Page printers have one or more page buffer memory, which stores the entire
page and prepares to print the entire page at once. Since these printers print
the entire page at once, their speeds can reach 50,000 lines per minute.
Common factors to consider before choosing a printer
Before choosing any printer for home or office use, we must first consider the
following factors:
• Cost: Cost is one of the major factors when purchasing a printer. The price of
the printer should be budget-friendly. Despite this, we should also consider
the expenses of the printers, which we will have to pay after purchasing. This
usually includes toner, cartridges, paper, and maintenance costs.
Besides, we should also calculate the total cost per page printing for the
separately shortlisted printers. This will help us choose budget-friendly
printers for our needs.
• Technology: The technology used in printers should be one of the main consideration
factors as it can affect many things (such as printer speed, print quality,
etc.) while printing. In the current technological era, laser and inkjet
printers are the latest technology.
While laser printers may be a better option for businesses or networks, inkjet
printers can be a good solution for home businesses and home users.
• Ink & Toner: If a printer uses ink and toner, this may be one of the consideration
factors that we cannot ignore. We should ensure that supported inks and toners
are readily available in the market so that we do not face problems when these
things need to be changed.
In the case of laser printers, we have to see if the printer accepts
cartridges of many colors. Because if a printer has only one cartridge, we may
sometimes need to buy all the colors needed in that particular cartridge, even
if we don't want all the colors.
• Speed: Printer speed can help us speed up our print job. Printer speed mainly
refers to the number of pages that a printer can print in a minute. The speed
is usually between 5 and 10 pages per minute. This can vary depending on
different factors such as color or monochrome prints, high DPI or low DPI,
full graphical pages or text only, etc.
In terms of speed, laser printers are currently considered to have a faster
speed of pages per minute than other printers. However, they can be expensive.
• Resolution: Print quality is one of the important things when purchasing a printer. It
mainly depends on the resolution of the print output and is usually measured
in dots per inch (DPI). The more dots per inch, the better the print quality
of the documents.
• Printing Availability: This is another essential factor that a printer must support in various
types of printing such as text and graphics in both monochrome and
colors.
Inkjet printers are widely used for most printing and are quite good in terms
of quality and speed. However, laser printers are more efficient for
high-quality prints for graphics such as logos, charts, diagrams, photos, etc.
But it may cost more than other printer types.
Which one is the best printer?
For most purposes, a multi-function all-in-one printer may be the best option.
However, this may not always be necessary for normal users. Thus, choosing the
best printer depends on the requirements and budget.
When it comes to purchasing printers for home use or small office purpose, the
following printers can meet the needs with a user-friendly budget:
• Inkjet Printer
• Dot-Matrix Printer
Besides, when it comes to purchasing printers for commercial use, the
following printers may meet the requirements:
• Multifunction Printer
• LED Printer
• 3D Printer
These printers are fast and provide quality prints, making them efficient for
businesses.
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