How are dot matrix printers used in business?ĭot matrix printing is primarily used for ATMs, cash registers, sales terminals, and file systems. A large 24-pin or 48-pin printer lays down a denser dot pattern in a single pass while simultaneously covering a larger area. The most common dot matrix impact printers have 24 pins, but different models of printers can vary from a mere 7 pins to 48 total pins.
The quality of the printer depends on the number and size of the pins on the printer head. What determines the actual quality of the printer? Although it is based on an old technology, more advanced dot matrix printers with USB connections are available. The graphics are formed by tiny dots arranged across the paper, giving the image a blocky appearance. A typical dot matrix printer can print both text and basic graphics. The fixed heads can print well over a thousand characters per minute, resulting in an output of up to 800 pages in one hour. The dot matrix printer can either have a moving print head or a stationary print head. These pins are driven forward by an electromagnet. But whereas a typewriter has fixed characters, a dot matrix printer forms each character separately according to an arrangement of small pins on the print head. A printer head strikes the paper with an ink ribbon and prints one line at a time. This type of equipment, also known as an impact matrix printer, works in a similar way to a typewriter. Although dot matrix technology is no longer the standard method of printing for most consumer applications, dot matrix printing is still used in some industries, such as banking and retail. Dot matrix printing was supplanted by inkjet printers in the mid-1990s. A dot matrix printer is a printing device in which a print head directly imprints the ink on the paper through a back-and-forth or up-and-down motion.