Thermal printer

A thermal printer may refer to any of the following:

1. A thermal impact printer or electrothermal printer is a printer that uses heated pins to "burn" images onto heat-sensitive paper called thermal paper. These printers are commonly used in cash registers, calculators, and fax machines. Below are the advantages and disadvantages of these printers.

Advantages of thermal printers

• Require no ink, ribbon, or toner.
• Inexpensive and print relatively fast.

Disadvantages of thermal printers

• Require thermal paper, which is susceptible to temperature and scratches.
• Produce low resolution print jobs.

2. A thermal printer, thermal transfer printer, or thermal wax-transfer printer uses thermal wax ribbon to melt colored wax on paper for a photo print. It was invented by Jack Kilby.

Printer, Printer terms, Thermal printhead, Thermal transfer paper