wide format printer/copier

LED and Inkjet printing are the two most common types of printing technology used in modern wide format printers. The key difference between a LED printer and an Inkjet printer lies in the functioning of the printer. Increasingly, both of these types of printers are becoming multifunctional, performing both scanning and copying tasks.

Inkjet printers, which employ small dots of ink to project a wide range of colors, use thermal or piezoelectric technology. Thermal inkjet printers employ heat to apply droplets of ink while piezoelectric inkjet printers employ electrically-charged crystals.

On the other hand, LED printers operate in a fashion similar to the laser printer by transferring the dry toner to the print surface by using a drum and fuse the toner to the surface of the paper by applying heat. LED and laser are different types of heat source used in printing technology, with the printers acquiring the name according to the heat source used in printing.

The other key differences between a LED and Inkjet printer are:

• LED prints in monochrome while laser provides a wide range of colors
• LED is considered to be faster than inkjet printers
• LED printers are expensive but have a low overall cost per page of print output
• Inkjet printers are relatively inexpensive but ink costs can increase the cost per page.

The speed of the LED and Inkjet printers are not comparable at times because they use different measures such as: square feet per hour or number of D size prints per minute among Inkjet printers while LED printers denote speed by linear feet per minute. It is advisable to request the dealer to present a uniform measurement of speed to compare the LED and Inkjet printer appropriately.

Plotters also print on a surface of paper (and other surfaces) using a pen with a traveling arm. Advanced LED and Inkjet printing technology now poses a challenge to plotters. The ability of the plotter to print in large sizes can now also be fulfilled by Grand Format printers that print in widths of five to sixteen feet or more. The term "plotter" is therefore rarely used in reference to printers, with the term now being substituted with "wide format printers" or "grand format printers".