Thermal printers are actually typically the most popular selection of receipt printer because they are often the most reliable and user friendly as they don't require any ink or ribbons. The technology relies upon chemically treated paper that is sensitive to heat. The printer heats the paper via holes in the print head to produce text and graphics. Thermal printers may also be regarded because the fastest form of receipt printer printing as much as 250mm second making them very suitable to fast turnover environments such as supermarkets and high street retail.
The one downside to thermal receipts, because of the technology, is which they fade in sunlight and can turn black and unreadable if put through heat. Thermal receipts are therefore unreliable for businesses that require their receipts to remain readable for long periods of time as a result of
3D Printer . Dual colour can be obtained by some models at the higher end of the marketplace with special paper but the results can be disappointing and the technology is rarely used at present.
This type of printer generally requires a bow which holds the ink such as for instance a typewriter and uses an impact mechanism that stamps the characters through the ribbon onto the paper. Some printing devices can utilise paper which contain mcrocapsules of ink embedded into them that burst upon impact and therefore do not require ribbons. Impact printers are easy identifiable since they are considerably noisier that other kinds of printer and are generally considerably slower than thermal printers. Impact printers are commonly the type that provides models with a two and three ply paper or a second roll for audit purposes. Lately and in many environments this type of printer has been superseded by thermal printers because of their speed and not enough a significance of consumables apart from paper.
In certain markets impact printers remain dominant as in the banking and gaming industries. Impact printers also are generally used in restaurant kitchens as thermal receipts are easily erased by heat. Some industries such as for instance banking and gaming have regulations regarding certain forms of receipts and about the period of time receipts are needed to stay readable. Ink based receipts last considerably more than thermal receipts and is therefore used by these industries as standard. It's worth noting that ribbons come in different colours such as for instance purple, black, red and dual red/black with the latter ribbon used to highlight certain transactions types such as for example refunds in red.
Inkjet printers are regarded while the successor to impact printers as they also use ink nevertheless they give you a superior printing quality. Most inkjet printers allow printing via ink cartridges in two colours with normally a mixture of black, green, red and blue. Businesses spend a lot of time and resources on brand recognition and using colour is a popular method of doing this. The technology can also be put to great use by printing colourful advertising or promotions on the receipt thus generating return visits from the customers.
In fact the use up of inkjet receipt printers has been minimal. This is considered to be due to a handful of reasons, firstly it's perceived that the changing of ink at the till point is tricky and frustrating and secondly the speed at which these printers operate is known as too slow for major retailers to adopt. Inkjet receipt printers do however offer the exact same are more durable receipts as impact printers making them suited to most business types.
This market is well serviced by numerous manufacturers with a success of preference and price range. As with many markets there is an enormous influx of far eastern models at rock bottom prices. As with most items that you purchase, you obtain what you buy and it's worth noting that with the major manufacturers you tend to get better products that last longer and receive better support if something goes wrong. Remember if your receipt printer stops working you will find it extremely tough to trade. The overall rule is the higher turnover your business achieves the better the receipt printer you need to invest in.