A thermal printer is a fast electro-mechanical instrument that receives digital information from a computer and prints it through the use of heat, a light beam and an inked tape. Some models print directly with the light beam, without the use of tape. Usually a thermal printer only prints in black and white, but some models in the market print in two or three colors.
Use of a Thermal Printer
These types of printers are mostly used for printing purchase or payment receipts, inventory labels, prescriptions and other applications where barcodes are needed. Thermal printers are ideal for any activity in the commerce or service areas where printing receipts that detail purchased elements is needed.
For these types of businesses, the best solution is a thermal printer because the accessories for high-volume printing are pretty cost-effective and, additionally, their printing speed is high which avoids any delays in the process.
Features of a Thermal Printer
A thermal printer is free of impact. This means this printer doesn’t touch the paper when it’s printing because the characters are transferred on to the paper through heat. These are a new generation of printers.
For thermal printers, printing speed is not determined by characters —as the amount of characters in a receipt is minimal—. The speed is measured in millimeters per second (mm/s); the more millimeters per second, the fastest the print will be.
Thermal printers can be connected to a computer, network, or any other device though the USB port, Ethernet, RS-232 port or parallel port.
The size of the thermal printer can vary, but most are desktop size and pretty compact. This makes very easy moving and choosing a place for them.
The supplies they use are limited to the paper or labels required for printing, so they are very low-cost.
Nowadays these types of printers are essential for almost any business, not only because of their advantages; but, also because of the low cost factor that, in the long run, becomes profit.
For more detail on thermal printers and whether they are right for your business, contact the experts at OminData Services Group, LLC.