Printing Technology
Inkjet Printer
Inkjet printers are a type of computer printer that operates by propelling tiny droplets of liquid ink onto paper. They are the most common type of computer printer for the general consumer due to their low cost, high quality of output, capability of printing in vivid color, and ease of use. The emerging Ink jet material deposition market uses ink jet technologies, typically piezoelectric ink jet, to deposit materials on substrates.
In general
In the personal and small business computer market, inkjet printers currently predominate. Inkjets are usually inexpensive, quiet, and reasonably fast; and many models can produce high-quality output. Like most modern technologies, the present-day inkjet has built on the progress made by many earlier versions. Among many contributors, Epson, Hewlett-Packard and Canon can claim a substantial share of credit for the development of the modern inkjet. In the worldwide consumer market, four manufacturers account for the majority of inkjet printer sales: Canon, Hewlett-Packard, Epson, and Lexmark.
Ink jet printers use one of three main technologies: thermal, piezoelectric, and continuous.
Advantages
Compared to earlier consumer-oriented printers, inkjets have a number of advantages. They are quieter in operation than impact dot matrix or daisywheel printers. They can print finer, smoother details through higher printhead resolution, and many inkjets with photorealistic-quality color printing are widely available.
In comparison to more expensive technologies like thermal wax, dye sublimations, and laser printers, inkjets have the advantage of practically no warm up time and lower cost per page (except when compared to laser printers).
Present-day inkjet printers use stochastic or FM screening, which gives better-quality results than low-cost laser printers when printing photographic images. Some inkjet printers print dots of more than one size, so that the screening is not purely "FM".
For some inkjet printers, monochrome ink sets are available either from the printer manufacturer or third-party suppliers. These allow the inkjet printer to compete with the silver-based photographic papers traditionally used in black-and-white photography, and provide the same range of tones - neutral, "warm" or "cold". When switching between full-color and monochrome ink sets, it is necessary to flush out the old ink from the print head with a special cleaning cartridge.
As opposed to most other types of printers, inkjet cartridges can be refilled. Most cartridges can be easily refilled by drilling a hole in and filling the tank portion of the cartridge. This method is more cost effective as opposed to buying a new cartridge each time one runs dry.
Disadvantages
Inkjet printers may have a number of disadvantages:
- The print heads may clog when ink dries up in them during a prolonged period of disuse
- The ink is often very expensive (for a typical OEM cartridge priced at $15, containing 5 ml of ink, the ink effectively costs $3000 per liter)
- Many "intelligent" ink cartridges contain a microchip that communicates the estimated ink level to the printer; this may cause the printer to display an error message, or incorrectly inform the user that the ink cartridge is empty. In some cases, these messages can be ignored, but many inkjet printers will refuse to print with a cartridge that declares itself empty, in order to prevent consumers from refilling cartridges.
- The color gamut of inkjet printers is limited
- The capacity of ink cartridges is limited; a typical black ink cartridge will print 100-300 pages of text, while a toner cartridge for a laser printer may last 2,500-10,000 pages.
- The lifetime of inkjet prints is limited; they may eventually fade and the color balance may change
- Some inkjets use multiple-ink cartridges which combine C, M and Y ink tanks; these must be replaced as a unit when only one color runs outs.
- For best results, inkjet printers require more expensive paper than laser printers.
- Double-sided printing is not usually practical with inkjet printers.
- Because the ink used in most inkjets is water-soluble, care must be taken with inkjet-printed documents to avoid even the smallest drop of water, which can cause severe "blurring" or "running." Similarly, water-based highlighter markers can blur inkjet-printed documents.
Generic Inkjet printer