Print resolution of the printer which one to choose. Maximum print size. What's behind print resolution? How multi-bit technology works

How much does increasing dots per inch (dpi) actually improve print quality?

Currently, there are several ways to "display", display an image, display it - printers, monitors, tablets and smartphones (and, for sure, the list can be expanded even further). One way or another, they are all characterized by the output density of the "picture", called the measured resolution, such as dots per inch ( dpi) or pixels per inch ( PPI). As a rule, according to the established tradition, we use dots per inch, characterizing the print resolution, and when we use PPI, we are talking about an image for example on a display.
It is also important to note that laser printers (laser-class) form dots of a size completely different than their inkjet counterparts "draw". For example, a well-formed laser print is so clean in terms of screen frequency and halftones that you can (theoretically) use it as a finished sample for replication-shooting with a camera, i.e. color separation, for reproduction on a printing press. (However, most designers would use the output of a laser printer for validation, and then go one step further and output the individual colors to film (color separation) to print on high quality, high resolution image, offset machine.)
Color separation (or color separation) is the process by which an original, original image is separated into separate color components for printing. The components are cyan, magenta, yellow, and black, known as ( cyan, magenta, yellow and black- CMYK). By combining these color components, a wide variety of colors can be printed on a single page. In this four color printing process, each color is printed on its own printing plate. When colors are combined on paper (in fact, they are small dots), the human eye combines the colors, sees the final - the combined image. Using split plates for printing is part of a process known as lithography.
Color model CMYK widely used in the printing process. To understand it, it's best to start with the RGB color model. Model colors RGB(composed of red, green and blue- red, green and blue) used in your computer monitor is what you see on the screen. These colors, however, can only be seen in either natural (sunlight) or artificial light, and not on the printed page.
The RGB color model is based on the theory that all visible colors can be created using the basic components red, green, and blue. These colors are known as basic colors because they combine in equal amounts to create white. When two or three of them are combined in different meanings, different colors appear. For example, combining red and green in equal amounts creates yellow. Green and blue create cyan, and red and blue create magenta.
Thus, you change the values ​​of red, green and blue, create new colors. Also, when one of these primary colors is not present, you end up with black.
And this is where the color model comes in. CMYK... When two colors RGB mixed the same, they produce model colors CMYK known as principal subtraction. As already mentioned, green and blue creates blue ( C), red and blue creates magenta ( M), and red and green creates yellow ( Y). Black added to the model CMYK because it cannot be created by subtracting the 3 main components (when combined, they create a dark brown). K or "key" means black.

DPI
Stands for Dots Per Inch. DPI is used to measure the resolution of an image during printing. As the name suggests, DPI refers to how many pixels in an image fit into a linear inch. Therefore, the higher the DPI, the more detail can be shown in the image.
It should be noted that DPI is not dots per square inch. Thus, a 600 dpi printer can print 600 dots simultaneously both horizontally and vertically per inch, so the device actually prints 360,000 (600 x 600) dots per square inch.
It should also be noted that since most monitors have a true real resolution of 72 or 96 pixels per inch, they cannot display a 300 dots per inch (dpi) image at actual size. Therefore, if you want to view an image at 100% size, it will look significantly larger than the printed version, because pixels on the screen take up more space than dots on paper.
Hard-copy devices - printers, printing machines, slide recorders and plotters - print at different dpi resolution. Most laser printers, for example, typically print 600 dpi, although many models have a maximum resolution of 1,200 dpi. Manufacturers also offer various technologies for increasing the resolution and higher, which is of a software nature, since the hardware resolution is still no higher than 1200 dpi. Printing machines print from approximately 900 to 3,000 dpi and above. The advantage of higher resolutions is of course smaller, higher dot densities. Which in turn means closer dots mean more detail and thinner lines - sharper and more contrasting curves - and more importantly, cleaner grayscale photos.

Bitmap vs vector graphics
While there is a wide variety of different types of graphic files, in reality they are all combined into only two types. computer graphics: bitmap (or raster) and vector. You are probably more familiar with raster graphics such as JPEG and PNG, used in the creation of office images and other graphics captured from image input devices - scanners and cameras, composed of halftones - these types you usually edit or create with Photoshop.
When it comes to resolution, bitmaps are "device dependent", meaning that they support the resolution of the device they were created on - in this case - digital camera, scanner, computer, tablet, smartphone. Bitmap (bitmap) arrays consist of a matrix of densely spaced dots, and by increasing or decreasing the size of the bitmap, you affect the dot density or dpi. Stretching the image decreases the dpi, while compressing it makes the image smaller and the dpi higher.
As you can imagine, changing the DPI can drastically change overall quality Images.
Vector graphics (or more accurately vector drawings), on the other hand, are not mathematically marked arrays of points. Each line, curve, or solid (fill) is created with thousands, sometimes millions, of computer instructions. Vector drawings have been edited and created in graphic editors such as Adobe Illustrator.
Rather than stretching and compacting areas of dots as you zoom in and out, vectors simply reshape themselves — in the resolution of the device they are played on, not the resolution of the device they were first created on. In other words, the vector image will be displayed optimally (in terms of resolution) at 72 or 96 dpi on the monitor and can also be printed at the resolution of the output device - printer ... 300, 600 dpi, or more, as if it were carefully created to be printed at this particular dpi.

Conclusion
In any case, remembering the resolution and type of files of photographs and drawings that you use, whether you embed them in your documents or print them as pictures, you can not only save your time, but also significantly improve the quality of what you print. For example, 72 dpi photos unintentionally printed from the web on a photo printer capable of much higher resolutions will of course result in much lower quality prints of these images and documents.

Under permission inkjet printer understand the metric that displays the number of dots per square inch. In general, this parameter is very important. The final quality of the image, which will turn out in the end, depends on it.

The higher the resolution of the inkjet printer, the better the contrast of the test will be. A setting of 10 dots per square inch will cause graininess in the image. Inkjet resolution and can vary greatly. In order to understand this parameter, you must first familiarize yourself with the general device.

What is an inkjet printer made of?

Absolutely all models include the following: a head, a power supply, and a paper feeder. All these mechanisms interact with each other. The head is the most important part that is responsible for the atomization of ink and affects the print resolution of an inkjet printer. This happens with the help of special nozzles.

Additionally, the inkjet printer has a motor that moves the head along with the cartridges. They are connected with a belt. Also, the print head device is equipped with a stabilizer bar. It is his responsibility to monitor the accuracy of the print. In this case, various vibrations of the printer head are unacceptable.

The paper feeding system includes a tray and a roller motor. Manufacturers use a wide variety of power supplies. This largely depends on the model of the inkjet printer. The control unit is presented in the form of a wiring diagram. To control the entire printing process, the control system is engaged in decoding the data. With its help, you can easily transfer information to a personal computer.

Best Resolution Printers

The most popular in our time are the models of the company and also "Canon". The average resolution of inkjet and laser printers is 600 by 600 dpi. Overall, the image quality is excellent. Compared to laser printers, inkjet devices have taken far ahead. However, there are other companies that deserve attention. First of all it is trademark"Brother". It also boasts a good 600 x 600 dpi print resolution.

Model "НР 2020hc": characteristics, price

The maximum resolution of the HP 2020hc inkjet printer is as much as 1200 by 4800 dpi. At the same time, it is possible to work with photographic paper. When the resolution is optimized. Different paper sizes are allowed. The recommended sheet density is 70 g / sq. m. Print speed is average in principle.

Typically, a color inkjet printer skips about 7 pages per minute. However, if you work with a black and white document, then this parameter rises to 20 pages per minute. During this time, color images are printed at a speed of 4 pages per minute. The borders of the image area are quite extensive. On A4 sheet, they are 210 by 297 mm. The cost of this inkjet printer (market price) is 3500 rubles.

Reviews of the inkjet printer "HP 1015"

Many buyers liked this model for high rate maximum print resolution. In this case, you can use sheets of A4, A3, as well as A5. Additionally, it is possible to print on labels and envelopes. Also, many noted the good speed of work.

In draft mode, the color inkjet printer is capable of up to 7 pages per minute. This prints high quality images at approximately 4 pages per minute. Additionally, it should be noted a large number of operating programs that are supported by this model. Considering all of the above, problems when connecting the device to personal computer should not arise.

Many more owners have appreciated the efficiency of this inkjet printer on the positive side. In operating mode, an average of about 10 watts is consumed. When the device is idle, only 1.6 watts are consumed. Sleep mode typically consumes only 0.8 W. In general, this model can be described as multifunctional and economical.

What's the difference between "Canon iP2840"?

The maximum resolution of the iP2840 "is 600 x 4800 dpi. At the same time, the minimum droplet size is as much as 2 pl. Additionally, you can note a wide range of supported formats. This model allows you to use A4, A5 and B5. You can also use photo paper 13 by 18 cm and 10 by 15 cm.In this case, the density of the sheet should be in the range of 60-105 g per sq. M.

Not the best, but, in principle, acceptable. On average, 8 pages can be printed per minute. This skips color images at 4 pages per minute. One of the features of this model is the presence of a duplex. Borderless photo printing is unfortunately not available. Additionally, there is no display for controlling the inkjet printer. OS Windows 8.1, 7 and 8 are supported. Plus to everything - the device can be connected to a personal computer with the Vista program (service pack 1 or 2).

Specifications "Canon iP2840"

The printer uses standard cartridges. Models Z-445 are used for black pigment, and C-446 for color printing. In general, the cartridge life is quite high. On average, with one refueling, the printer can print about 300 pages. However, if you work with high quality photographs, you will be able to skip about 150 sheets. In general, the model can be described as compact. Its weight is only 2.3 kg.

Power supply is standard, and is carried out from a network of 100-240 V. In this case, the average frequency is 50 Hz. Operating temperature at which this model can be used, ranges from 15 to 30 degrees. You also need to monitor the humidity of the air. The admissible parameters are within 80%. The tray of this model is convenient and can hold 60 sheets. The inkjet printer kit consists of a cable, cartridges and instructions. Additionally, manufacturers include an installation CD. The cost of this inkjet printer (market price) is 3500 rubles.

Gone are the days when only organizations could afford a laser printer. Laser printers are still more expensive than inkjet printers, but the cost per page (printed page) of laser printers is incomparably lower - so much so that the difference in price can pay off after a thousand or two pages.

The quality of the text on such pages will be better than that of an inkjet one, and a laser printer prints much faster.

But one drawback does not allow this type of printers to completely displace "inkjet" from the shop windows: all its advantages relate to black and white printing. Although the price of color “lasers” is constantly falling, the cheapest color laser printer costs ten times more than the average inkjet printer, while the color image quality (clarity, saturation and color rendition) of the inkjet printer will be higher.

But if you type a lot; you print mostly text, and the presence of color is not very important to you, then the question of choosing a type of printer is not even worth it - only a laser one. It remains to understand the characteristics of laser printers and choose the model that best suits your tasks.

If, in addition to printing, you also need the ability to scan documents, pay attention to laser multifunctional devices (MFPs).

Laser printer device


The principle of image formation for all laser printers is the same - the drum gets an electrostatic charge over the entire surface, then the laser beam removes the charge from those parts of the drum on which the printed image should be formed. Toner is attracted to these areas. When the drum is "rolled" on a sheet of paper, the image is transferred from it to the sheet. The image is fixed using an oven that heats the sheet to the melting point of the toner.

The drum unit, toner and drum transfer unit are combined in a replaceable cartridge.

But there are also some subtleties. For example, on HP, Canon and Xerox printers, toner is electrified before contacting the drum and is attracted to the uncharged areas of the drum. On the other hand, on Epson, Kyocera and Brother printers, toner is attracted to the charged areas of the drum.

Simply put, in printers in the first group, toner will be attracted to areas where the laser beam has passed, and in printers in the second group, to areas where the laser beam has not passed.

The first option provides crisp fine lines and is good for printing text and drawings. The second option is better suited for printing images containing large monochromatic details - infographics, histograms, graphs, etc.


The toner used in different printers may vary. Most printers use magnetic toner that is fed to the drum unit on a magnetic roller. In some printers, the toner is two-component - in them the dye powder is mixed with a developer - a magnetic carrier powder to which the dye particles adhere. In some printers, the ink particles are themselves magnetic - this toner is one-component. And in many Xerox, Samsung and Brother printers, the toner application system does not have a magnetic roller and uses non-magnetic toner.

Therefore, it is imperative to use only compatible toner for your laser printer. Different models of even the same manufacturer may use different technologies for applying toner, and spilling toner from one printer into a cartridge of another may damage it.

Characteristics of laser printers

Maximum print size.


Most of the commercially available printers have a maximum A4 size (210x297 mm) - this size is sufficient for both home and most office documents. A larger format (A3 - 297x420 mm) may be required only for diagrams, drawings and large graphs. Large format printers cost several times more.

The maximum resolution for black and white printing.
Print resolution is measured in dots per inch (dpi - "dot per inch") and determines the sharpness of lines.


When comparing the resolution of inkjet and laser printers, it should be borne in mind that laser printers reproduce halftones much worse than inkjet printers. If you are going to print only black and white images (diagrams, drawings) and text, this will not be noticeable. But if the image contains halftones, then, printed on a laser printer with a resolution of 600x600 dpi, it will noticeably differ from the one printed on an inkjet printer with the same resolution.

If you need a printer mainly for printing text and drawings, then a resolution of 600x600 dpi will be enough.

If you need the ability to print black and white photos, then choose among printers with a resolution of 1200x1200 dpi - with this resolution, the "patterns" in halftones will no longer be striking.

Maximum resolution for color printing.


For color laser printers, poor halftone reproduction is even more relevant - it is simply pointless to avoid printing halftones on a color laser printer, so you should pay close attention to the print resolution of a color printer.

A color image printed on a laser printer with a resolution of 600x600 dpi, upon close examination, will be broken into multi-colored dots.

Color printing.


Black and white laser printers are much more popular than color ones: firstly, color laser printers are much more expensive than both black and white laser and color inkjet printers. Secondly, at the same print resolution, the quality of the color image on a laser printer will be worse than on an inkjet one. So what are the benefits of a color laser printer?
1. The price of a print on a laser printer is several times lower. Unfortunately, many manufacturers (especially on low-cost models) install chips on the cartridges to prevent them from refilling. Since the set of new cartridges is comparable to the price of the printer itself, such models have practically no advantage in the price of a print.
2. The speed of printing on a laser printer is several times higher.
Thus, the purchase of a color laser printer will be justified if you need to print many color images at high speed - for example, flyers, color packaging and other similar printing.

Printing technology determines how an electrostatic "image" is formed on the drum. With traditional laser technology, a laser beam is used for this, the beam is moved along the drum using a rotating mirror. With LED technology, a line of LEDs is located opposite the drum.


The LED light source is more compact and has no moving parts.


An LED printer better conveys small details, but when printing a single-color "fill", stripes may be visible on it due to the uneven glow of the LEDs in the line.


Print speed will be important for large volumes. For home use the speed of 12-20 ppm provided by most inexpensive printers is sufficient for most tasks. Office printers provide print speeds of 40-60 ppm, while the maximum print speed for commercially available printers reaches 80 ppm.

If this parameter is important to you, please note that the print speed will be faster the smaller the paper size used. Color Print Speed may also differ from black and white print speed(usually below).


Some printers have the option automatic two-sided printing... Duplex printing saves paper and is essential when printing brochures.

Most printers offer manual two-sided printing, which means that the stack of paper will have to be passed through the printer twice from the output tray to the input tray.

But if you intend to use double-sided printing often, the manual method can lead to a waste of time and increased paper consumption - page shifting when printing booklets (which often happens when the printer picks up a couple of sheets from the tray at once) leads to damage to the entire booklet. It is better to immediately pick up a printer with automatic two-sided printing.

Number of pages per month determines the allowable load on the printer. For home use, 3000-10000 pages per month will be sufficient. This will not be enough for the office, it is better to focus on 20,000-40,000 pages per month. Large offices will require a printer with a load capacity of 50,000-100,000 pages per month. Printers are under the greatest stress in printing companies - here hundreds of thousands of pages per month are counted.

Interfaces.


LPT(IEEE-1284, parallel port) - the oldest printing interface, currently used very rarely, and there are few printers with such an interface. Most modern motherboards do not have this connector, and it makes sense to choose a printer with such an interface only if you need to connect it to an old computer without USB connectors at all. You just need to make sure that there are drivers for the selected printer model for the system installed on the computer.


USB- the most common interface today, which is equipped with most printers. Note that printers use the USB Type-B connector, which was developed for peripheral devices, but is actually only found in printers today.

Some printers can also act as a USB host, increasing the number of USB ports available and also allowing you to print a document directly from a USB storage device. For the same purpose (printing a document directly from the media), printers are equipped with a card reader (memory card reader) - in such a printer, to print photos, you just need to insert a memory card from a camera or phone.


Ethernet. Connect to local network allows you to print to the printer from any of the network workstations. Such an opportunity is especially in demand for office printers; for home use, it will be more relevant to connect via Wi-Fi.

Such a printer can be installed anywhere in an apartment or house (of course, if there is a Wi-Fi network at this point) and print on it from any computer or laptop connected to the network.


With the support of mobile printing technology, on such a printer you can print from tablets and smartphones, just before buying it will be useful to make sure that the printer supports the same technology as your mobile devices.

Almost all printer manufacturers "promote" their mobile printing technology, which can be used by installing the appropriate application. But there is also universal technologies supported by most printers: AirPrint used on Apple gadgets, and Google Cloud Print- for devices running Android.

How many photos do you take per day? The widespread adoption of photographic devices allows modern man instantly capture interesting events. Frames taken with a camera or smartphone can be edited, viewed countless times on the screen, but still in the printed form they bring much more pleasure from viewing... In a photo album or in a frame on the wall, photos come to life, if I may say so, give a lot more emotions from their contemplation. It is good news that today printable photos no need to go to a specialized photo lab - you can buy a printer to print photos at home... This device will allow you to take photos quickly, efficiently and cheaply.

Today photo printers are in great demand not only among professional photographers, but also amateur photographers, the most ordinary people who take photos and want to create photo archives. In view of this photo printing device market is overcrowded: You can find printers in a wide price range, with different printing technologies, different speeds, and different parameters. What kind of photo printer will pass in each case?

Laser printers

The quality of photos printed on a laser printer is not the highest, unless, of course, we are talking about a professional darkroom, the price of which is very high. Principle of operation A laser printer can be simplified as follows: an electric charge corresponding to a certain color is induced on the drum, the charge attracts the powder of the desired shade, the powder is transferred to a sheet of paper, and the final stage of printing is the effect of high temperature, which bakes the ink on the paper.

One can praise laser printers only for the printing speed, but it is difficult to call them economical: the cost of one photo (this is the indicator that plays important role at purchase) is higher than that of printers with other printing technologies, due to the high cost of cartridges.

Inkjet printers

The best way for home photo printing - these are inkjet printers. They print well, quickly, and are inexpensive. The print is transferred to the paper by spraying many drops of ink through the nozzles of the printheads. But then, How does ink get onto paper?, allows you to divide all inkjet printers into several groups:


The main disadvantage of inkjet printers is the tendency to clog printheads and dry ink. The best prevention of this is regular printing.

To reduce the cost of printed photos, today it is widely used at home continuous ink supply system (CISS). If initially such systems were made only by craftsmen, and manufacturers tried in every possible way to make printer covers and chips on cartridges more closed and inaccessible, now printers with factory CISS are widespread on sale. If you often print photos, then such a system will come in handy.

Dye Sublimation Printers

Such printers for printing photos at home have appeared relatively recently. They are compact, and as Supplies used here cartridges with film containing layers of solid dye in all primary colors... Under the influence of temperature, the dye turns into a gaseous state and is fixed on the paper.

The main advantage of the technology is accurate reproduction of all shades, which is so appreciated by professional photographers, but you will have to pay more for it, which is the main disadvantage of such printers. To reduce the cost of each print, you can look for great deals and buy supplies with discounts, for example, on the page https://www.fotosklad.ru/catalog/rashodnye-materialy-prof/.

Number of colors and drop volume

An important parameter when choosing a printer is the number of colors used. When it comes to inkjet printers, then this number should definitely be more than 3 primary colors, and it is better if it is equal to 6 or more, which will provide more accurate color reproduction. For inkjet printers, there is also such an indicator as drop volume. In theory, the smaller it is, the better, but in fact, it is difficult to notice a significant difference between a drop of 2 picoliters and 4 picoliters. The minimum drop volume is 1.5-3 pl, in some Canon printers - 1 pl.

For sublimation printers the number of colors, as a rule, ranges from 3 to 5. Printing features allow you to get excellent prints with 3 colors, and 5-color devices are used only in a professional environment.

Consumables and printing costs

When choosing a particular printer, you need to carefully study its characteristics, in particular number of photos that can be taken with one cartridge... We divide the cost of the cartridge by its resource, and we get the price of each individual photo. Be careful, because not always a large resource speaks about the economy of printing - it is important to always compare prices and determine the cost of printing one image.

Those who print a photo of a house in large volumes should calculate the cost to the penny. If you usually print no more than 15-20 images per month, then you should not approach the printer's economy with such pedantry.

Print resolution

Printer manufacturers are often attracted to buyers precisely by high-resolution printing. Good ones high-quality pictures issued by printers with resolution not less than 4800 * 1200 dpi... Although the print resolution is important indicator when choosing a printer, but not as important as the printing technology, the quality of ink and cartridges.

Print speed and format

In the description of printers, you can also notice such a parameter as the speed of printing one photo. There are models with record performance, there are slower ones. Pay close attention to print speed only if you regularly print large volumes of photos, and literally every minute counts. Otherwise, this is not such an important indicator.

What size will you need to print your photos? The answer to this question must be clearly known before buying, since the more print formats the printer supports, the more expensive it costs, and a substantial overpayment for unnecessary options is not the best solution.

Additional printer features

If the extended functionality of the printer is important, then when choosing it is important to pay attention to its additional features:

  • the presence of an LCD display, where not only data about the printing process will be displayed, but also the photo itself with the possibility of basic editing;
  • a card reader will allow printing from memory cards;
  • Wi-Fi will allow you to get rid of unnecessary wires and transfer photos for printing remotely;
  • scanner.

Best printers for printing photos

Epson L805


An excellent functional printer that will allow you to print a decent amount of photos at home, not only on all sorts of paper, but also on films, labels, and disks. Weight 6 kg, power 13 W, yield of a color cartridge 1800 pages. The name of this printer speaks for itself - printing small photos, mostly selfies. The compact printer allows you to get high-quality, clear small photographs, and the 10 * 15 format is the most common. The device supports printing from external media, AirPrint technology, for convenience there is a color LCD display with a diagonal of 2.7 inches, there is the possibility of operating from a battery. Consumes 60 W during operation, weighs only 800 grams.

Epson Stylus Photo P50


There is nothing superfluous in this printer, which allows you to purchase a device for high-quality photo printing at the maximum favorable price... If necessary, you can install CISS here and make the printing process as economical as possible. The device weighs 5.5 kg, consumes 13 W during operation, and emits noise at a level of 38 dB.

Canon PIXMA iX6840


The main feature of this printer is the ability to print on sheets A3 format. In addition, the model boasts high resolution, low drop volume, multi-surface printing and AirPrint support. Weight 8 kg.

Thanks to inkjet printers, color printing has long been available to everyone. But the low price of basic models of "inkjet" did this type of printers a disservice: for many buyers, the euphoria of the purchase very quickly gave way to disappointment due to the low resource of cartridges and their high prices. And the print quality was far from photographic, even if you print on expensive photographic paper at that time.

So, after a while, the buyer cooled down to the printer, and you can't count how much dust was collecting in the mezzanines and garages of dead Stylus and DeskJets from the 2000s.

But progress does not stand still: photo paper today is inexpensive, and the tenfold increase in print resolution allows you to achieve acceptable quality even on the most inexpensive inkjet systems.

The cost of cartridges, however, remains quite high, but continuous ink supply systems (CISS) and cartridge refills can significantly reduce the cost of a page. And today an inkjet printer can be called optimal for low-volume printing both at home and in the office.


And if you print a little, and color printing is needed as often as black and white, then you only have to choose between inkjet printers and inkjet MFPs.

If you do not need copier and scanner functions, you should understand the characteristics of printers and understand how they affect their price, print quality, the price of consumables and other properties.


Types and device of inkjet printers


In all inkjet printers, printing is done by microscopic droplets of ink, which are "shot" by the print head under pressure. But the pressure in the nozzle is created in various ways.


In printers Epson a piezoelectric method of creating pressure is used: a piezoelectric crystal is located under the nozzle, bending under the action of an electric current. The pressure generated by this pushes the paint drop out of the nozzle.


In printers HP and Canon the thermal method is used: a resistor is located under the nozzle, which heats up under the action of the current passing through it to a temperature of 500-650 ° C. The paint adjacent to the resistor boils, a gas bubble forms, which pushes the drop out of the nozzle.

The piezoelectric method provides more high speed prints, better color reproduction (due to the ability to change the droplet size) and greater image clarity (due to less splashing). But piezoelectric heads are more expensive to manufacture, which cannot but affect the price of the printer.

The thermal method, being inferior in print parameters, gives the printer another disadvantage: 100% consumption of any ink cannot be allowed. The ink in the printheads made using this technology cools the resistors; when printing "dry", the resistor burns out very quickly, which leads to the failure of the head.


The print head can be combined in one housing with a cartridge or located separately - in the printer itself. In most printers without CISS, the head is in the cartridge.

On the one hand, this makes it easy to replace a worn-out head (which is often the case with thermal inkjet printing), on the other hand, it increases the cost of the cartridge.

In most printers with CISS, head replacement may already require contacting a service center.

Characteristics of inkjet printers

Color printing.
Although most inkjet printers are color, black and white models are available and are able to compete on an equal footing with laser printers in terms of price, halftone print quality, and cost per page.

The advantages of black and white inkjet printers with CISS also include ease of refueling and the ability to print on film. Disadvantages: the print speed is slower than that of laser printers, the quality of text and drawings is also inferior to the quality provided by a laser printer.

CISS.


In a printer with a continuous ink supply system, there are no cartridges; ink is supplied to the print head through tubes from containers located outside the printer. CISS allows you to significantly reduce the cost of consumables for the printer - instead of replacing expensive cartridges in a printer with CISS, you just need to add ink to the containers.

Printers with CISS are more expensive, but the difference in price will pay off after a few hundred printed pages.

Maximum format.


Most inkjet printers have a maximum A4 format (210x297 mm) and this is enough for most tasks. If you need the ability to print posters, drawings and other large-sized images, then inkjet printers with a maximum A3 format (297x420 mm) are not at all as expensive as color laser printers with the same maximum format. Among the affordable color inkjet printers, there are even models with a large maximum format - A3 + (329x483 mm).

Maximum resolution determines the number of individual dots that the printer can print per inch of paper - similar to the pixel density of a monitor or tablet, but there are differences.

Devices with the highest pixel density - Smartphone models with 300 ppi or more demonstrate excellent clarity and reproduction of details even in the smallest picture elements. At the same time, if you print a color picture on a printer with a resolution of 300 dpi, the quality of the picture will be "so-so": the dots of paint will be easily distinguishable, small details will be completely lost.


The problem is that laser and inkjet color printers are not capable of displaying halftones. If you print a thin line of pure yellow, it will be as clear as on a smartphone screen, because it will all consist of dots of only one yellow color (from a cartridge with yellow ink). But if the same line is printed in orange, then red dots will already be added to the yellow dots, i.e., the line will not consist of orange pixels, as on a smartphone screen, but of yellow and red ones.


If pixels of an even more complex color are printed, then the printer will need to place a different number of dots of each ink side by side in order to accurately reproduce these colors. So it turns out that one pixel of a smartphone screen corresponds to several dozen dots of paint on paper. As a result, acceptable color printing starts with a resolution of 600x600 dpi, upon closer examination, at least 1200x1200 is required, and for a photographic image, resolutions go from 4800x1200.


Requirements to maximum black-and-white print resolution also vary greatly depending on whether the printer is to print halftones (grayscale). For black and white text, a resolution of 300x300 dpi is sufficient, but if a high-quality transmission of halftones is required, then the resolution should be at least 1200x1200.

Number of cartridges.
Basic inkjet color printers use four colors of ink: cyan, magenta, yellow, and black. Accordingly, models with four cartridges (one for each ink) are fairly common.


But many inexpensive printers contain only two cartridges - black and color, which stores three color inks at once. This option reduces the price of a set of cartridges (two cartridges are cheaper than four), but in the long term it cannot be called economical: after all, the color cartridge will have to be replaced, even if only one of the paints has run out. The low price of such a printer will result in overspending of ink and an even higher price for a print.


In photo printers, the number of cartridges is more than 4x - light inks are added to the standard set of cartridges for improved color rendering in the light parts of the image: light cyan, light magenta, etc. At the same resolution, a printer with a large number of cartridges produces better color and image clarity.

Print speed inkjet printers are lower than laser printers, but among the inkjet printers there are quite high-speed models - up to 50 A4 sheets per minute for both color and black-and-white printing. True, if for laser printers this indicator almost does not depend on the fullness of the sheet and the print quality, then for inkjet printers the speed is strongly related to the printed content. Printing with the maximum quality of a photo on a full sheet can reduce the passport speed value by a factor of ten.

Automatic two-sided printing makes printing brochures much easier, and double-sided printing saves paper. But keep in mind that inkjet photo paper only has one working side, the images on the back will be of much poorer quality.

Interfaces.


Interface USB today almost all printers are equipped and this interface will be optimal for connection to a nearby computer. Please note that many printers use the USB Type-B connector, which today is only found in printers, although it was designed for all USB peripherals.


The presence of an interface on the printer Ethernet (RJ-45) allows you to use it as a network, making it available for workstations on the local network. Such an opportunity will be in demand in offices; for home use, it may be more relevant to connect via Wi-Fi.

Such a printer can be printed from any computer or laptop connected to the network. Wi-Fi, and if the printer supports mobile printing technologies, then from tablets and smartphones. Just before buying, you should make sure that the printer supports the same technology as your mobile devices.


Each inkjet printer manufacturer has its own mobile printing technology, which can be used by installing the appropriate application. But there are also versatile technologies supported by most printers: AirPrint used on Apple gadgets, and Google Cloud Print- for devices running Android.

For some printers, you can "send" a document for printing using NFC- just put the phone to the printer, and the selected document will be printed. Again, the appropriate application must be installed on the phone first.

 

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