A printer is an output device that produces information or computer outputs on a paper. Depending upon the technology used, printers are classified into two categories namely, Impact Printers and Non-Impact Printers.
An impact printer is one that operates by striking a printing head (made up of metal or plastic) against an ink ribbon, whereas a non-impact printer is one that prints characters and graphics without direct physical contact between the printing head and the paper.
Read this tutorial to find out more about Impact and Non-impact Printers and how they are different from each other.
Impact printers function by creating a direct contact between the ink-ribbon and the paper. These printers are noisy, yet popular. Impact printers have mechanical moving parts to conduct printing. Impact printers print characters and images by striking a print hammer or wheel against an inked ribbon that leaves an image on paper. Hence, the printing in impact printers is done by hammering a metal printing head or character dye on the ribbon.
The major drawbacks of impact printers are: they are slow speed printers and consume a lot of time to print a document. Also, impact printers have very high noise levels because they have several moving parts and also the printing head strikes on ribbon and paper. The quality of print produced by an impact printer is very poor than that of a non-impact printer.
Impact printers use old printing technologies and they are less expensive. Examples include Dot-matrix printers, Daisy-wheel printers, and line printers.
Non-Impact Printers don't use any direct contact between ink ribbon and paper. They use laser, xerographic, electrostatic, and chemical or inkjet technology. These printers are less noisy and don't have mechanical moving parts to conduct printing. Non-impact printers print images and characters without any direct physical contact between the printing mechanism and the paper. In non-impact printers, the printing is done by depositing the ink on a paper in any form.
Non-impact printers can operate at high speed and can print many pages per minute, and low noise level. The noise level of non-impact printers is very low or negligible because they do not use striking mechanism in which printing head strikes on ribbon and paper, instead they use a process of laying ink or toner onto a paper which is virtually silent.
Non-impact printers use laser, spray of special ink or heat and pressure to print graphics and characters onto the paper. The quality of print produced by a non-impact printer is higher than that of the impact printer. These types of printers use toner (dry ink) or liquid ink cartridge for printing on paper.
Non-impact printers use latest printing technologies and they are expensive as compared to impact printers. Examples include Inkjet printers and Laser printers.
The following table shows the major differences between impact and non-impact printers −