Key factors to consider when buying a wide format technical printer – Part 1

Printer types

Monochrome wide format printers generally come in one of three configurations: printer only, printer copier, or multi-function.

Printer only configurations are just that, they print digital files submitted from a user’s desktop, or in the case of Web enabled printers, from a Web connected device, (Smartphone, Tablet etc), or they can print from the printer’s interface. This can include, (not all manufacturers support this), browsing to network folders, USB, or FTP locations to build a job directly on the printers interface.

Some printers also have scanners built into them, (Printer/Copier), allowing you to print from the network, make copies, but not scan to file.

Speeds

Evaluating a printer just by the numbers, (feeds & speeds), is potentially decieving. Most printers in the same class will have almost identical speed specifications; however, their productivity may vary substantially.

What affects this most often is the ability of the print controller to process the file data, quickly, and accurately.

Most wide format printers only process one (1) file ahead, (processing 1 file , while printing another), this means there could be a delay while the controller processes large amounts of data, slowing the output of the printer, or creating an “Intercopy Gap”.

More advanced wide format printers use a process called pull ahead processing, this allows the controller to keep processing files until there are no more to convert. Pull ahead processing minimizes the intercopy gap, allowing the print engine to maintain rated print speed, and to complete the print job quicker.

 Most wide format monochrome printers are rated to print a designated number of D-sized drawings (24" x 36") per minute (ppm).

 Black & white printers will range from 3 ppm in the low-volume segment, 6–9 ppm in the mid-volume segment and 13–22 ppm in the high-volume segment. These speeds represent the physical output speed of the engine.

 Imaging Technology

 All major monochrome wide format printers on the market today use LED as its primary imaging technology. LED technology uses a light-emitting diode array as a light source in the printhead.  

The toner image is fixed to the paper using either a heat and pressure mechanism (Hot Roll Fuser) or a radiant fusing technology (Oven Fuser) to melt the toner particles onto the paper being printed on.

It has been suggested by some wide format manufacturers that there are energy benefits to be gained by using one fusing method over another. However, all printers regardless of technology use about the same amount of power when printing, and all manufacturers employ comprehensive energy management tools, to the extent that the real difference is negligble. (pennies a month, not dollars).

The standard for energy management is the Energy Star rating, which all machines you consider should be Energy Star qualified. (More on this in a later post)