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Laser This type of printer is most commonly found in medium to large sized businesses because of the efficiency and speed at which they print, not to mention their very good resolution. Laser printers function in a manner similar to the photocopier where a shiny rolling drum is pre charged with static electricity. In the case of laser printers however, the image is not provided by a reflection of the original but by a series of burst from a finely tuned laser. This laser forms the images and letters by altering the charge of certain portions of the drum. An oppositely charged powder or toner is then applied to the drum. Since the toner is oppositely charged, it sticks to the drum at portions affected by the laser. Paper is then fed through and the toner is rolled on to the paper. The final step is a series of heated rollers or fuser which melts the toner embedding it onto the paper producing the final print out. Initially, most commercial laser printers came only in one flavor: black ink on white paper. Today however, coloured laser printers are beginning to make their presence felt. These work in pretty much the same way as their monochrome brothers but go through the process a total of 4 times, once for each colour of toner, usually Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black or CMYK. So why consider a laser printer over a cheaper ink or bubble jet? The obvious answer would be speed, efficiency and accuracy. Since the laser’s working diameter is fixed and unchanging, it draws more precisely and wastes less ink. Also, a laser can reproduce documents on the drum faster than any inkjet cartridge can clear the length of a roller. And although laser printers are expensive, they are relatively cheap to maintain and operate since toners last virtually a year without replacement, even with a high volume print load, as opposed to an inkjet cartridge that runs out in a matter of months or weeks if use is particularly heavy. |
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