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.

Difference Between Impact Printer and Non-Impact Printer

Comparison Chart

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.