Information and Communication Technology

2.1.33 Non-Impact Printers

2.1.33 Non-Impace Printers 

Inkjet printer

These printers print characters by spraying electrically charged ink ont o the paper. They are capable of producing characters of various shapes and sizes. The speed is around 100 characters per second.

Laser printer

These are high speed, high quality printers. A laser beam is used to bum character images on to a rotating dru m and the heated surface area picks up the toner which is offset to paper. Laser printers can produce around 20,000 characters per second. Though they can produce good quality characters of different styles and sizes and print even logos for letter heads, they are very expensive and therefore are not popular among small business organisations.

Thermal Printer

A thermal printer uses heated dot-matrix wires to print the output on a specially treated paper. The output on a thermal paper fades quickly when ex posed to light. Some fax machines use this concept. Another similar printer, known as electrostatic printer, uses electricity (instead of heat) to create images.