When buying a printer, users often see these parameters such as resolution, printing speed, etc. So what do these references actually mean? Now, let us understand the terms of laser printers.
1. Resolution
Resolution is an important technical indicator to measure the quality of the printer. Printer resolution generally refers to the maximum resolution. The larger the resolution, the better the print quality. Since the resolution has an important influence on the output quality, the printer is usually based on the resolution (Resolution) to measure its grade. The unit of calculation is DPI (Dot Per lnch), which means the number of dots printed per inch. For example, the resolution of a printer is 600DPI, which means that its printout prints 600 dots per inch. The higher the DPI value, the finer and more realistic the effect of the printed output, of course, the longer the output time and the more expensive the price.
The resolution of the general dot matrix printer is 180DPI, which is as high as 360DPI; the inkjet printer is 720DPI, and the higher is 1440DPI. The recently launched inkjet printer has a high resolution of 2880DPI; the laser printer is 300DPI, 600DPI, and the high It is 1200DPI, even 2400DPI. The resolution of dye sublimation thermal transfer printer is up to 1800DPI. It stands to reason that the resolution (Resolusion) should be the number of distinguishable points (lines) that can be achieved within a unit length (width) degree. Only in this way can the fineness of the printed graphics and text be shown. If a printer can print 10 recognizable lines within 1mm width, instead of pitch black, it can be said that the resolution of the printer is 10 lines/mm, which is equivalent to 254DPI. However, the current concept of resolution is "in unit The number of dots (number of lines) that can be printed in length (width) degrees". It is not emphasized whether it can be clearly distinguished visually, that is, there is no "distinguishability" at all. This is just a mathematical "decomposition", regardless of the size of the physical point. Such "resolution" is actually dot density. Another one-inch-long horizontal line was printed horizontally by a printer with 360 continuous dots, that is, the horizontal resolution of the printer is called 360DPI. Even the diameter of each dot is 0.2mm (the needle diameter of a 24-pin printer). If you use an inkjet printer with a dot diameter of only 50μm and print with the same DPI, the effect will be quite different compared to the two.
In view of this situation, it is particularly important to remind users that even under the same resolution index, printers of different products, even with the same function, will have very different printing effects. Because the print quality is related to the single dot size as mentioned above. Furthermore, the print quality is also related to the color saturation of a single point, the point and positioning accuracy, and the shape of the base to the point.
2. Printing format
The print format is an index that measures the page size of the printer's output text and graphics.
The line width is generally given in a dot matrix printer, which is expressed by how many characters (characters/rows or columns/rows) can be printed in a row. Commonly used printers have 80 columns and 132/136 columns.
The specifications of single-page paper commonly used in laser printers indicate that the printing format of the printer can be divided into A3, A4, A5 and other format printers. The larger the printing area of the printer, the larger the printing range.
Inkjet printers are also commonly used to express cut-sheet paper specifications. Usually the print format of inkjet printers is A3 or A4 size. Some inkjet printers also use line width to indicate print format.
3. Home page output time
This is a term unique to laser printers, that is, how long it takes to output the first page of content after executing the print command. A general laser printer can complete the output of the first page within 15 seconds. The benchmark of the test is 300dpi printing Resolution, A4 printing format, 5% printing coverage, black and white printing.
Four, medium type
The type of media that the printer can print.
The media that the laser printer can handle are: ordinary printing paper, envelopes, transparencies, postcards, etc.
The media that inkjet printers can handle are: plain paper, inkjet paper, glossy photo paper, professional photo paper, high-gloss photographic film, glossy cardstock, T-shirt transfer media, envelopes, transparencies, banner paper, etc.
The media that the dot matrix printer can handle are: ordinary printing paper, envelopes, wax paper, etc.
5. Paper thickness
It gives the maximum thickness of the paper that can be printed. Unit: g/m2.
6. Paper loading capacity
The loading capacity refers to the number of sheets of paper that can be loaded at one time. The capacity here refers to the standard paper input capacity that the printer can provide, including the total capacity of the multi-purpose tray and the standard input tray.
Seven, character types
Character types refer to which kinds of characters (including Chinese characters) can be output and printed by the printer, and which kinds of fonts can be used for output and printing of these characters.
8. Input data buffer
In order to increase the speed of the printer, the input data buffer should be large enough. The buffer area of 24-pin printers is generally around (2～40)KB, and some are as large as 128KB; inkjet printers are between (10～64)KB; laser printers are between (1～8)MB, and some are available. Expand to 66MB.
Nine, carriage return time
Refers to the time required for the serial printer to return from the right end position to the left end initial position (Home) after a full line of characters (Chinese characters) has been printed by the serial printer. The longer the line width, the longer the carriage return time. The shorter the carriage return time, the faster the printing speed.
10. Line feed time
Refers to the time required for the serial printer to switch from the current print to the next line. The larger the line spacing, the longer the line feed time. The shorter the line feed time, the faster the printing speed.
