Many of us use computers more or less. Some use computer at home, some in office, some for their personal work. But if we write something on the computer and want to print it on paper, suppose we want to type a letter and print it on paper, the printer does the printing. And that printing thing is called print. We have learned about mouse, keyboard, monitor from previous posts. Now we will know details about print and printer.
What is the printer?
The device with the help of which a text, image etc. is printed on the paper from the computer is called a printer. It is an electronic device. Through the printer, we print any text or image on the paper from the computer, that is, we get the output. That is why the printer is an important output device in the computer system.
What is the printout?
The method of printing any text or image or anything else on paper through a printer is called Print Out.
History of Printers –
We know that Charles Babbage is called the father of computer. In this came the idea of the printer and from that idea he designed the printer and invented the printer.
The first electric printer was produced by the Japanese company Epson in 1968, named EP-101.
Then HP company in 1984 HP Laser Jet manufactures laser printers. The speed of this printer increases relatively and the work is also relatively faster.
After that the printer saw a lot of use and gradually different companies started making better quality printers.
Types of Printer –
Printers are divided into two categories depending on the technology and use of the printer.
- Impact Printer
- Non-Impact Printer
Now we will discuss about impact printer and non impact printer.
Impact Printer
Every printer has a print head. A printer in which the head of the printer touches the paper while printing something on the paper is called an impact printer. During printing, the printer head applies pressure to the ribbon on top of the paper inside the printer and produces noise. This printer can only print in black and white and the printout is not very clear. Examples of such printers are – dot matrix printer, line printer, daisy wheel printer.
Things to know about Impact Printer (Features) –
- The printing head touches the paper.
- The ink used in this printer is relatively cheap.
- The ink ribbon is attached to the bottom of the printer head and just above the paper.
- The head prints by rubbing the ribbon over the paper.
- Friction creates sound.
- The printing quality of this printer is low, the printing speed is very low and the cost is also very low.
- This printer cannot print anything in color or print images.
Dot Matrix Printer
It is a type of impact printer. This type of printer has some pins on the printing head. During printing, the head strikes the inked ribbon or ribbon and creates characters on the paper. A single character is printed with the help of small dots with the pin in the head. This results in the reproduction of the required characters on the paper. A lot of noise is created due to friction on the paper.
Line Printer
It is also a type of impact printer. Such printers can print an entire line at a time. This printer also produces noise during printing.
Daisy wheel Printer
Daisy wheel printer is a type of impact printer. This printer can only print or print letters and symbols, not any images or graphics.
Non-Impact Printer:
Like impact printers, non-impact printers also have a print head. A printer in which the head of the printer does not touch the paper while printing any text or image on the paper is called a non-impact printer. These types of printers do not generate noise and the printing quality is superior i.e. text or image print output is clear. Examples of such printers are – inkjet, laser, thermal printers.
Things to know about Impact Printer (Features) –
- The printing head does not touch the paper when printing on this printer.
- As the head does not touch the paper while printing, there is no friction, resulting in no noise in the printer.
- The printing quality of this printer is good and cost-effective.
- Printing speed is relatively high.
- This printer can print both black-and-white and color text or images.
Inkjet Printer
Inkjet printers are a type of non-impact printer. Liquid ink is used in this printer. All kinds of prints in black and color can be done in this printer. Black ink is used for black-and-white printing and three colors are used for color printing: Cyan, Magenta, and Yellow. Each color cartridge has a perforated nozzle or tube under it. The ink drops come out through the tube or the tube and various texts or images are printed on the paper. The print quality of this printer is very good and prints fast. Words are not created. However, the printer head is not as strong or strong as the impact printer, there is a possibility that the head will be damaged after printing more or using it for a while. The ink used for this printer is relatively expensive.
Laser Printer
It is a type of non-impact printer (Non-Impact Printer). This printer uses powdered ink like carbon powder to print on any written paper. This powdered ink is packed into a cartridge or toner. These printers have high printout quality, low printout cost, fast printing and high durability, so the price of this printer is relatively high.
Thermal Printer
This printer is used to print any bill. It is a type of non-impact printer.
Plotter:
A plotter is an output device that looks like a printer. It is used to print on paper or any other material. It is quite large in size. Like printers, plotters also contain ink, with which both black-and-white and color printing is possible. For printing, the plotter head has an ink pen, with the help of this ink pen, printing is done. Plotters are used for printing various types of large printouts such as flex i.e. sign boards, advertising posters, hoardings or any large type of print.
Frequently Asked Question (FAQs):
- Printer is an output device.
- Printers are divided into two categories, impact printers and non-impact printers.
- Examples of impact printers – dot matrix, line, daisy wheel printers.
- Examples of non-impact printers – inkjet, laser, thermal printers.
- There is a type of printer called plotter, from which we can print any large advertisement, hoarding, sign board etc.
- Impact printers produce noise but non-impact printers do not produce noise like impact printers.
- The cost of non-impact printers is relatively high and the printout quality is superior.
