Inkjet Vs. Laser Jet
Inkjet printers became available for consumer use in the late 1980s, but they were invented in 1970s. Inkjets are used in plotters, fax machines and inkjet printers.
Lasers were first used in copy machines to duplicate an image. Gary Starkweather, a researcher at Xerox, experimented with using laser beams to transfer images onto paper and wanted to develop a printer that would use a laser.
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Inkjet Type
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All inkjets have a print head carriage that holds the ink cartridges. When the end user sends a print job from the computer, it goes to the inkjet's buffer. The inkjet printer microprocessor picks up the signal. The signal transfers data to the inkjet print head magnetic strip. The ink cartridge also has a magnetic strip that reads the print head data. Print manufacturers make their own ink cartridges. The print head and ink cartridge magnetic strip have to match in order to print documents. The ink cartridge reads the data from the print head, and the print head carriage moves back and forth on a belt. The ink cartridge nozzle releases ink droplets onto the paper to form the design.
Laser Jet Type
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Laser printers also have a microprocessor chip. When the printer gets a signal to print, data is transmitted to a laser beam. The laser beam bounces light to a mirror that reflects the light to the photosensitive drum. The data forms a design on the photosensitive drum. While the drum turns and touches the corona wire, an electrical charge is given off. The toner (made of wax particles) is released onto the positive photo cells on the photosensitive drum. The photosensitive drum rolls the design onto the paper. The paper then passes through a fuser (heated rollers) that melts the toner wax onto the paper.
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Identification
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Inkjets and laser printers are used to print photos and documents, as well as brochures, fliers and newsletters. Inkjets come in two sizes: The larger ones are commonly used with desktops, while the smaller ones are portable and can be carried with a laptop. Laser printers are big, bulky machines that people use in offices, schools or businesses. Another distinction between inkjets and lasers is the kind of ink used. Inkjets use liquid ink stored in two cartridges. One cartridge is black, and the other cartridge has the primary colors cyan, magenta and yellow. Lasers use toner that looks like a powder and contains wax.
Function
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Inkjets and laser printers produce high-quality text and images. Clarity of the image depends on the paper weight, texture and brightness. The heavier the paper, the better the ink will cling to the paper with less bleeding. Texture refers to the surface of the paper, which might contain plastic or clay. Paper brightness is measured on a scale of 1 to 100 due to a chemical whitener being added to the paper.
The same graphic or image may look different on an inkjet printer. If using plain white paper to print from an inkjet, the ink will bleed through the paper, giving the image a blurry appearance. If the paper is 92 bright or above, the paper brightness causes the ink to reflect off the paper and there is less ink bleeding through the paper. Inkjets print high-quality photos using matte or photographic paper. The matte paper has a coarse texture. When looking at the paper closely, the surface looks like a grid of tiny plastic bubbles. Photographic paper has a smooth, glossy surface.
Laser printers also use different paper types. When printing from a laser printer, the images always have a glossy look due to the toner; even when using regular paper the image looks as if it can be published in a magazine. The best paper stock to use with lasers is bright white paper 96 or above. Paper brightness allows the toner to reflect off the paper. Since laser printers emit heat, do not try to use transparency paper to print projector slides, unless the printer manufacturer states that transparencies can be used.
Considerations
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Laser printers print much faster than inkjets. Laser printer can print 200 black-and-white documents and 100 color documents in one minute. Inkjets can print 15 black-and-white pages and 10 color pages in one minute. The cost of purchasing a laser printer is usually higher than an inkjet, but the toner will last longer than an ink cartridge. Inkjets are more costly to the consumer due to the frequent replacement of ink cartridges.
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