Nonimpact printers as low end hardcopy printout devices

Low-end nonimpact printers are either impulse ink-jet or thermal printers. The impulse printers are either piezoelectric impulse or the thermal-bubble types. The thermal printers also fall into two categories. In one type heating occurs in one or more of a matrix of heating elements in a head and the head in term contacts a ribbon which contains a thermally sensitive ink in contact with paper. Alternatively the thermal head may be in direct contact with a thermally sensitive paper. In the second type of thermal printer the head is an array of electrodes which inject current into a resistive ribbon. The ribbon is the transducer which heats a thermally sensitive ink which is in contact with paper. The paper describes the principles of operation of these technologies, and their capabilities as well as their advantages and disadvantages