Text 2 Types of printers

Another important output device is the printer, which allows the user to produce paper copies of data held in the computer, known as hard copy.

Types of printers

A dot-matrix printer uses a group, or matrix, of pins to create precise dots required to shape a character. A print head containing tiny pins strikes an inked ribbon to make letters and graphics. This impact printing technology allows shops, for example, to print multi-part forms such as receipts and invoices, so it's useful when self-copying paper is needed. It has two important disadvantages: noise and a relatively low resolution (from 72 to 180 dpi).

An ink-jet (also called bubble-jet) printer generates an image by spraying tiny, precise drops of ink onto the paper. Colour and hues are created by the precise mixing of cyan, magenta, yellow and black inks. Inkjets are fairly fast, quiet, and not as expensive as laser printers. The resolution ranges from 300 to 1,200 dpi, suitable for small quantities or home use. Nevertheless, you can still expect high quality results because there are some inkjet printers on the market with a resolution of 2,400 dpi.

A standard ink-jet has a three-colour cartridge, plus a black cartridge. Professional ink-jets have five-colour cartridges, plus black; some can print in wide format, ranging from 60 cm up to 5 metres (e.g. for printing advertising graphics).

Some ink-jet based printers can perform more than one task. They are called multi-function printers because they can work as a scanner, a fax and a photocopier as well as a printer. Some units accept memory cards and print photos directly from a camera.

A laser printer uses a laser beam to fix the ink to the paper. A laser works like a photocopier; a powder called toner is attracted to paper by an electrostatic charge and then fused on by a hot roller. They are constantly being improved.

In terms of speed and image quality, laser printers are preferred by experts for various reasons; for instance, they have a wider range of scalable fonts than inkjets, can produce a high resolution of 1,200 to 2,400 dpi; can emulate different language systems, and can produce high-quality graphics; however, they are still expensive for home users.

Lasers use a page description language or PDL which describes how to print the text and draw the images on the page. The best-known languages are Adobe PostScript and HP Printer Control Language.

Thermal transfer printers are used to produce colour images by transferring a wax-based ink onto the paper. They are popular for printing bar codes, labels and medium-resolution graphics.

Imagesetters produce very high-resolution output (up to 3,540 dpi) on paper or on the actual film for making the printing plates. In addition, they are extremely fast. Imagesetters are most often used in desktop publishing (DTP). Although they produce the highest quality output, they have one important disadvantage: they are too expensive for homes or small offices.

In modern lithographic printing, images are created on a DTP computer and then output directly to the printing plates, without requiring film as an intermediate step. This technology is called computer to plate, or CTP, and the machine used is called a platesetter.

A plotter is a special type of printers which uses ink and fine pens held in a carriage to draw very detailed designs on paper. They are used for construction plans, engineering drawings or can be used in computer-aided design, maps, 3-D technical illustrations, etc. Nowadays, traditional plotters are being replaced with wide-format inkjets.

S.R. Esteras and E.M.Fabre “Professional English in Use”

S.R.Esteras “Infotech English for computer users”)

1. What types of printers are mentioned in the text? What are the most popular?

2. Characterize each type speaking about advantages and disadvantages.

3. Are dot matrix printers out-of-dated? Are they replaced or are they still used somewhere?

4. What printer is the most suitable for home usage? How does it work?

5. What does PDL stand for? What is it necessary for?

6. What printers that are more common for professional printing, do you know?

Exercise 5. Give Russian equivalents for the words and word combinationsfrom the text.

to produce paper copies of data to shape a character a print head impact printing technology to spray drops of ink onto the paper suitable for cyan ink magenta ink a laser beam

to fix the ink to the paper to be attracted to paper to be fused on by page description language to transfer a wax-based ink to produce very high-resolution output a carriage to be replaced with

Exercise 6: Read the description of different types of printers. Define what types of printers are described. Some types are mentioned more than once.

_______________________ is a printer which uses ink and fine pens held in a carriage to draw detailed designs on paper

______________________ use pins to print the dots. They can print text and graphics; however, they produce relatively low resolution output - 72 to 180 dots per inch (dpi).

______________________operate by projecting small ink droplets onto paper to form the required image.

A professional ___________________________ is a typesetting printer that generates very high-resolution output (over 3,540 dpi) on paper or microfilm. It's used for high-quality publications.

_______________________ are used to print multi-part forms, self-copying paper and continuous-form labels. They are slower than laser printers (see below) but much cheaper.

_______________________ produces output at great speed and with a very high resolution of 1,200-2,400 dpi. They scan the image with a laser beam and transfer it to paper with a special ink powder called toner.