Impact Printer vs. Non-Impact Printer

Main Difference

Difference between Impact Printer and Non-Impact Printer is that Impact Printer prints characters or images by striking print hammer or wheel against an inked ribbon and Non-Impact Printer prints characters and images without striking the papers.

Impact Printer vs. Non-Impact Printer — Is There a Difference?
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Difference Between Impact Printer and Non-Impact Printer

Impact Printer vs. Non-Impact Printer

Impact printers work by banging the needle placed inside it on the ink ribbon What this action does is, that marks get created over the surface and then ink spreads throughout the paper. Non-Impact printers work without any needle to produce scores get created over the surface and then ink spreads throughout the journal.

Impact Printer vs. Non-Impact Printer

A type of printer that produces characters and graphics on a piece of paper without striking it becomes known as a non-impact printer, whereas the kind of printer that produces characters and graphics on a piece of paper by striking it is called impact printer.

Impact Printer vs. Non-Impact Printer

More ink is required for a nonimpact printer to work and therefore becomes costly whereas the impact printer needs less ink but more needles used, although the system is still less expensive.

Impact Printer vs. Non-Impact Printer

The speed of a non-impact printer is much faster and usually produces around 300 words in each second, whereas there is no fix time frame for a particular type of impact printer but is very slow.

Impact Printer vs. Non-Impact Printer

Main kinds of non-impact printers are inkjet printers, photo printers, laser printers, thermal printers, mobile printers, plotters, and large-format printers. Main types of impact printers are a dot-matrix printer, Daisy wheel printers, line printer, Drum printers, chain printers, and band printers.

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Comparison Chart

Impact Printer Non Impact Printer
Work by banging the needle placed inside it on the ink ribbon that creates marks over the surface and then ink spreads throughout the paper. Work without any needle to produce scores get created over the surface and then ink spreads throughout the journal.
History
First kind of printers Latest type of printers
Noise
Have banging noise of needle on paper Do not have any noise
Speed
Faster speeds around 250 words per second. Slower speeds around 1 page per 30 seconds.
Type
Produces characters and graphics on a piece of paper by striking it is called impact printer. A type of printer that produces characters and graphics on a piece of paper without striking.
Example
inkjet printers, photo printers, laser printers, etc. Dot-matrix printer, Daisy wheel printers, line printer, etc.
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Definition of Impact Printer

These are the first of their kind and used for printing documents in the beginning. Considered as the first ever type of printers they work by banging the needle placed inside it on the ink ribbon What this action does is, that marks get created over the surface and then ink spreads throughout the paper. Another feature, which may go against it is that they are noisier than the other types of printers as the needle keeps on moving at a fast speed and the paper moves slowly, hence creating sound. Many kinds of impact printers are present although their importance has decreased over time. The first type is the dot-matrix printer that has around 9 to 24 pins on the surface to make sure things get printed correctly on the screen. It is easy to know that a 24 pin dot printer creates a better image than the nine pin printer. The needles strike the page on an individual level, and the whole mechanism moves across the print line in the left to right and vice versa direction. Daisy wheel printers are the other type, it is a synonym to the typewriter and gives the same quality as compared. Several petals are present inside and hence, have one alphabet each that strikes the page and prints the words. The next type is line printer that mostly becomes used in businesses where large amounts of pages are required to become published. Drum printers, chain printers, band printers are also in the same category and have their functions.

Definition of Non-Impact Printer

These type of printers are the common kind of printers and get defined as the ones that do not require any needle to work for them. They either use and ink-jet or laser for completing the task and do so at high speeds. Although they function better, the costs of such printers are relatively large and require ink regularly since it gets consumed at faster rates. That brings us to the advantage, that is no noise. These do not have any striking mechanism, and hence, people do not worry about the noise. The first type, as explained is the ink-jet printer and works in the same fashion as a dot matrix printer when it comes to images and texts. While in the latter one, dots produced through the needle; here it is provided through ink that is sprayed on the system to bring the nozzle close to the paper and copy the same characters as on the original file. They are able to print around 250 words in one second, and that means it is way better than any impact printer when it comes to bulk printing. Laser printers are the next ones, these work just like a photocopying machine. They produce text and images on paper by focusing the laser beam on the mirror that bounces the beam on the drum. This drum has an individual coating into which the ink filled on to the box, here small dots get conveyed with the help of a laser, and the drum becomes neutralized hence giving us the form.

Conclusion

There are many terms which can give the impression that they are very different from each other, Impact and non-impact printers are these terms which have been explained in this article and the concepts have been made clearer for people who do not generally know much about them.