Winn L. Rosch Hardware Bible, Sixth Edition

Print Engines

The challenge faced by any printer is how to get ink (or something that looks like ink but isn't) onto paper—and keep it there. The actual mechanism that handles this job and forms an image on paper is called the print engine. Engineers have developed a number of technologies for print engines, and each uses a somewhat different physical principle to form an image on paper. Although each technology has its strengths, weaknesses, and idiosyncrasies, you might not be able to tell the difference between the pages they print. Careful attention to detail has pushed quality up to a level where the paper rather than the printer is the chief limit on resolution, and color comes close to photographic, falling short only on the depth that ...