Printer (computing): Difference between revisions

Revision as of 22:29, 11 March 2025

Revision as of 22:30, 11 March 2025

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[[File:Epson Wide Carriage 9-pin printer - with legal paper 8.5x14.jpg|thumb|This is an example of a wide-carriage [[dot matrix printer]], designed for {{convert|14|in|adj=on}} wide paper, shown with {{convert|8.5|x|14|in|adj=on}} legal paper. Wide carriage printers were often used in the field of businesses, to print accounting records on {{convert|11|x|14|in|adj=on}} [[tractor-feed paper]]. They were also called "132-column printers".]]

[[File:Printer.ogv|thumb|A video showing an [[Inkjet printing|inkjet printer]] while printing a page]]

In [[computing]], a '''printer''' is a [[peripheral]] machine which makes a durable representation of graphics or text, usually on [[paper]].<ref name=":0">{{cite web|url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/printer|title=Printer - Definition of printer by Merriam-Webster|work=merriam-webster.com|access-date=6 August 2017|archive-date=18 August 2017|chivearchive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170818221053/https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/printer|url-status=live}}</ref> While most output is human-readable, bar code printers are an example of an expanded use for printers.<ref name=BarCo>{{cite web

|title=0271-2834-MTDC; Assembling a Bar-Code Tracking System

|url=https://www.fs.fed.us/t-d/pubs/htmlpubs/htm02712834/page03.htm

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[[File:PrinterIBM1403 090325.jpg|thumb|IBM 1403 line printer]]

* ''Chain or train printers'', where the character set is arranged multiple times around a linked chain or a set of character slugs in a track traveling horizontally past the print line. The [[IBM 1403]] is perhaps the most popular and comes in both chain and train varieties. The ''band pri nterprinter'' is a later variant where the characters are embossed on a flexible steel band. The LP27 from Digital Equipment Corporation is a band printer.

* ''Bar printers'', where the character set is attached to a solid bar that moves horizontally along the print line, such as the [[IBM 1443]].<ref>{{cite book|last=IBM Corporation|title=IBM 1443 PRINTER for 1620/1710 Systems|url=http://bitsavers.informatik.uni-stuttgart.de/pdf/ibm/1620/A26-5730-2_1443_printer_for_1620.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://bitsavers.informatik.uni-stuttgart.de/pdf/ibm/1620/A26-5730-2_1443_printer_for_1620.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live}}</ref>

* A fourth design, used mainly on very early printers such as the IBM 402, features independent type bars, one for each printable position. Each bar contains the character set to be printed. The bars move vertically to position the character to be printed in front of the print hammer.<ref>{{cite book|last=IBM Corporation|title=IBM 402, 403 and 419 Accounting Machines Manual of Operation|year=1963|url=http://bitsavers.informatik.uni-stuttgart.de/pdf/ibm/punchedCard/AccountingMachine/224-1614-13_402-403-419.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://bitsavers.informatik.uni-stuttgart.de/pdf/ibm/punchedCard/AccountingMachine/224-1614-13_402-403-419.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live}}</ref>