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Thermal Printer Print Speed
We've all heard a salesperson say, "Maximum printing speed of this thermal
printer is...? However, they've never told you that print speeds have several limitations,
including a repeat period of time where the thermal printer prints a line, then
moves the media in order to print the next line. This is referred to as the cycle
time or pulse cycle, which is the amount of time for the electrical current to flow
through the heater element, pluse the time required for it to cool, before it can
print the next line. When printers have shorter cycle times, they also have higher
printing speed. One method of increasing print speed is by shorting the pulse width. When a higher
power is applied to the thermal printhead this creates a shorter pulse width that
has enough energy to darken the media. This shorter pulse width will support a
shorter cycle time, thus increase print speed. However, a shorter cooling time
is also needed to achieve a higher printing speed. When the heater does not cool quickly enough, the next pulse will be applied before
the temperature has reached the optimal base level resulting in poor quality print
and, can shorten the life of the printhead. For this reason many manufactures are
using thin film printheads, which have a better heat response than thick film printheads. Yet, even this can pose problems. Even when using thin film printheads the use
of history control is needed, which is the use of a shorter pulse width to print
a dot when the same heater retains heat from printing a previous line. Thin glaze
increases the limit of when history control is needed. The reason for this is because
thin glaze more efficiently disperses heat enabling the heater surface to return
to the base level quicker, with out an accumulation of heat after 5 pulses. Printing speed is also directly related to media sensitivity. High sensitivity
media uses less energy therefore prints faster than low sensitivity media. The
reason for this is higher sensitivity media also reduces pulse width and cycle time.
Small business guides: , Thermal Transfer Labels Guide.com |
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