What is the difference between a laser printer and an inkjet

Due to their design features, inkjet and laser printers firmly occupy their niches in the market. The first has gained popularity and maintains its position due to its economy and high print quality. The second is its speed and level of resolution. But this difference becomes imperceptible when switching to standard low-resolution black and white printing. Therefore, it makes sense to understand in more detail.

The principle of the inkjet printer

This device forms an image by applying small droplets of ink to a sheet of paper, which can be supplied in two ways:

1. Continuously - the dye under pressure is constantly fed into the nozzle, in which it is divided into a sequence of microdrops. Some of them, after breaking up with a piezocrystal, fall onto the paper, and the rest go back to the ink tank.
2. On request - the dye is fed into the nozzle only when there is a need for its application (the head is located above the desired coordinates of the sheet). A fingerprint can be formed using either a piezocrystal or a thermo-jet method. The latter provides for a kind of “shooting” of dye microdroplets heated to 500 degrees.

The key difference and the most noticeable feature of the inkjet option is the use of liquid ink in the work. And since the image is formed from droplets of adjustable size, you can achieve a high level of full color, but with medium resolution.

The principle of the laser printer

The printing process consists of:

• processing the drum with a laser beam in order to form on it that pattern that needs to be recreated;
• applying toner to the drum;
• transfer of dye to the sheet;
• thermal fixing of the received image.

After passing through the last couple of steps, the dye is so firmly embedded in the paper structure that it is impossible to erase or wash it off without a trace. But due to the "hardness" of the toner particles, color rendering is limited (resolution, on the contrary, increases). Although this technology has a significant advantage - the speed of printing copies, black and white versions of which are created in just 2-3 seconds.

The laser printer applies the image using powder toner, which can be:

• two-component - dye and developer (developer), mixed either during the application of the print, or not at the stage of manufacture of the cartridge;
• unicomponent - a pure dye with magnetic properties.

Which to choose

Definitely say which of the above options is better impossible. Therefore, when choosing, you should focus on your needs and the estimated intensity of the use of technology.

A laser printer is relevant in situations where speed is above all. He is able to create from 15 to 30 copies per minute. And for inkjet 15 pages are available only with black and white printing with a minimum resolution.

If you have to work with full-color images, it is better to give preference to a technique that uses liquid ink - so you can achieve the highest possible color accuracy. But if the device is planned to be used only occasionally, then choosing a laser printer will avoid a lot of trouble and malfunctions arising from clogging of nozzles with dried ink residues.

But when assessing the approximate cost of consumables, the indisputable leaders are precisely inkjet printing devices - if you equip them with a CISS, the cost of each created copy can fall by 10-20 times. But this rule only applies to heavy use of the printer.