Printers Related Queries
- What are the major types of label printers available in the market?There are various types of printers available in the market. Some of them are:-
What is the difference between Direct Thermal and Thermal Transfer?
Direct Thermal Printer does not require any ink toner or ribbon for printing. It consists of chemical material that blackens and glued to the paper, when heat applies on it.
These types of printer are not capable to print in colors. Print is not durable for long time. It gets fade over time when exposed to excessive light and heat.
Thermal transfer Printer requires ribbon to apply print on the surface of label. Thermal print-head is used to melt the layer of ink that is used for printing process. It applies heat to ribbon to apply ink on the label surface to get the image printed.
The ink get absorbed on the label surface, thus printed image using thermal transfer technique is durable for long time. Printer has ability to print logo, graphic and colored images.
What is Dot-Matrix Printer?
Dot matrix printer is a printer that produces required characters by striking pins against an ink ribbon to print closely spaced dots in the desired shape.
What is Ink jet Printer?
Ink jet printers spray droplets of ink through a nozzle onto the paper to print required image. Printer uses ink cartridges that need to be replaced when empty.
What is the difference between impact and non-impact printers?
Impact printer produces characters when tiny pins on print head strike the ink-ribbon between the print head and the paper. E.g.: Dot Matrix printer, daisy wheel printer and line printer. These types of printer are not commonly used today.
Characteristics:
- ⋆ Less expensive
- ⋆ Ideal for printing multipart forms
- ⋆ Reliable and durable
- ⋆ Noisy because of the striking activity
- ⋆ Low printing speed as compare to no-impact printer
- ⋆ Low print quality
- ⋆ Limited color printing
Non-impact printers: produces required graphics or text on paper without actually striking. For e.g.: Inkjet Printer, Thermal Printer and Laser Printer.
Characteristics:
- ⋆ Speed is reasonably fast
- ⋆ High quality printing
- ⋆ Produces Letter-quality printouts
- ⋆ Most commonly used printer today
- ⋆ Uses toner powder or ink spray
- ⋆ More expensive than impact printers
- ⋆ Print head is less durable
- ⋆ Cannot print multipart forms
- ⋆ Capable to print strong clear colored
- ⋆ Handle graphics and often a wider variety of fonts
Where should I use Desktop and tabletop printers for creating labels?
Barcode Label printers are divided into two broad categories based on their size and maximum print duty cycle.
- Desktop printers are best for low volume labeling applications such as a small retail store or office. These types of printers are smaller in size.
- Tabletop printers are meant for printing thousands of barcode labels daily and are more robust to handle harsher environments.
How inkjet printers differ from laser and thermal printers?
- Inkjet printer uses ink jets to spray ink on paper.
- Thermal printer uses wax that's heated and pressed into the paper.
- Laser printer uses a laser on a roller to pick up toner and then "melt" it into the paper.
Scanner Related Queries
- Is my colorful barcode label support by barcode scanners?
Go to Barcode Color Guide for this question.
- What type of barcode scanner is suitable for scanning moving targets? (Laser or CCD type)
Laser barcode code readers are most suitable for scanning moving targets such as luggage on a conveyor belt.
- Is there any difference between barcode scanners and barcode reader?
No, barcode reader is an another name of barcode scanner. Both are same.
- Are laser scanners safe?
Yes, proper use of barcode scanners are quite safe. Certain International standards define power levels of laser light used in electronic device for safety consideration.
The level of light energy received from laser scanner is lesser than that is received by human eye on bright sunny day.
- How far is the range of a cordless barcode scanner?
The range of Cordless/Wireless Barcode Scanner varies from model to model. It may vary from 33ft to over 200ft.
- What are the barcode scanner connectivity options?
There are many connectivity options for barcode scanner connectivity:
- USB Barcode Scanner
- PS/2 Keyboard Wedge Barcode Scanner
- Serial (RS-232) Barcode Scanner
- Cordless/Wireless Barcode Scanner
- Wireless Barcode Scanner
- Batch / Memory Barcode Scanner
- Bluetooth Barcode Scanner
What is keyboard wedge interface? How is it related to barcode scanner?
Keyboard wedge interface also known as "wedge" interface is a small device that is attached to the keyboard socket on the PC base unit. It is used to translate data read by barcode scanner in human readable form (Generally, alphanumeric characters).Modern barcode scanners are normally available with one of three "output options" - either "Keyboard Wedge" output, RS232 serial output, or USB output.
What is the difference between linear and 2D barcode image scanners?
Linear barcode scanner can read only linear barcode by taking its image to decode stored information.
2D barcode scanner can read linear as well as 2D barcode, orientation of the barcode is not important in the case of 2D barcode.
Is the price of my item in the barcode?
A barcode can hold any type of information but generally, it contains the information about the product – “What kind of product it is” and associated database contains other information of that product including its price.