| Know your Dot-matrix printers: |
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Printers rely on a matrix of pixels, or dots, that together form
the larger image. The dot matrix printer also knowns as impact printers uses a
matrix of small pins to create precise dots where mechanical force is exerted
on the printing media to form a character. Printer head moves in the horizontal
direction the printhead controller sends electrical signals which forces the
appropiate pins (also called wires) to strike against the ink ribbon, making
dots on the paper and forming the desired characters.
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| UNDERSTANDING YOUR DOT MATRIX
PRINTER
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| Pins or Wires
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The print quality of
a dot matrix printer is decided by the quantity of pins
it has, pins (also called wires) carries out the
function of printing the dots. The number of the pins
can vary from nine to twenty four 9 pin printers are
used for transactional or internal document printing
while 24 pin printers are used for enhanced quality
printing typically used for executive reports, document
printing.
Column Printing
The column refers to what paper
size the printer can take for printing, the letter and
spreadsheet format printing can be done in 80 col and
136 col respectively. Moreover the dot matrix printer
can take different stationery types like roll-paper,
continuous stationery and single sheets.
Print Speed
The speed of a printer can
be measured in pages per hour (PPH) also known as
throughput and characters per second (CPS) also known
burst speed. PPH is the time it takes to print a page,
which includes-time to print characters and time to
advance from one line to another. On the other hand
burst speed is the speed at which characters are printed
and does not include the speed at which printer advances
from one line to another. Throughput captures character
printing speed and paper advancement speed.
Paper Loading Mechanism:
For loading multipart continuous
stationery the tractor feed is used which contains a
sprocket that grabs the perforated holes at both sides
of the stationery and pulls it through uniformly. On the
other hand to load cutsheets or single sheets the
friction mode is used which does not involve use of
tractor unit.
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| Language Printing
capability
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Usually Dot Matrix Printer understands only ASCII whereas Indian language
standard is in ISCII. Any non-ASCII character is printed as graphics resulting
in reduction of speed. In language DMP, the font of the language is built in to
the printer and hence even ISCII is printed in character mode and not in
graphic mode, which enables the printer to print Indian language at 6 times the
speed of a normal printer.
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| Key Usages |
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Printing bills, invoices, purchase
orders
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Transactional document printing
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Label and Barcode printing
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Correspondence,Presentation and
Report Printing
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Desktop publishing
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Spreadsheet printing
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PoS and ticketing application
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Printing with cash registers,telex
lines ,etc
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Advantages of a DMP over other
Print technologies
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Lowest cost per page-less than 5 paisa/page
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Multi-part printing capability from 2 to 8 copies
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Lowest cost of ownership
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Rugged and reliable
Acceptable print quality in text
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| What are the different consumables? |
| The consummables for any dot matrix printers are |
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1.
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Ribbon cartridge |
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2.
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Print head |
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| Ribbon catridge will have a life in terms of number if
characters printed . Most of BLOOM brand cartridges will give 3 million
characters life |
| What to look for when buying a DMP? |
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Print Speed |
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Application compatibility (varied host systems, Eg. Windows,
Linux, DOS, Non PC applications)
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When the printing load is high and
the costs are to be kept low. |
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In tough work environments for instance large warehouses sturdy
and rugged DMPs are most reliable.
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When multiple copies are to be printed with continuous
stationery
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Low Cost of consumables & maintenance resulting in lowest
cost of ownership.
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