LED technology in the past few years has become quite widespread. Not their last application is printing devices, in other words, LED printers and MFPs. Laser machines have recently been the pinnacle of printing technology, but these days, buyers have a wide selection. On the one hand, this gives freedom, on the other, it raises doubts: which device to take, so as not to miscalculate?
LEDs in print
Comparing laser and LED printing technology is difficult. It cannot be said that one of them is categorically better than the other. Both this and the other option have their advantages. The history of a black-and-white LED printer began in 1987, when the first model went on sale. A practical, affordable color device was presented to customers only after a decade. True, the models of the era of the 90s were not too high-quality, which spoiled the reputation of the technology as a whole.
In many ways, color LED printers proved to be not very good devices, because users themselves made mistakes when operating the devices. Many used cheap low-quality toners, others used machines too actively, exceeding the resource by several times. The high popularity of this type of device in our country in the 90s was explained by low cost. Now the price of LED printers is higher, but the machines have become much more reliable.
Device specifics
LED and laser printing devices are built on similar operating principles. Inside the machine there is a printing roller, the sections of which are susceptible to light. Specialists call this part the drum unit. Under the influence of light, a coloring substance adheres to the desired parts of the part, which is then transferred to paper. Available on modern LED printers printing on thermal paper, and not just on ordinary A4 sheets.
When printing, the shaft passes through the paper material by clicking on it. This allows you to create a clear footprint. Toner paper is sent to the heating system, where the high temperature allows the ink component to firmly stick to the material. All this happens in a matter of seconds between pressing the "Print" key and the output of the finished sheet from the print tray. By the way, seconds are not a figurative expression. For example, a Xerox LED printer can print in as little as 4 seconds.
Is there any difference?
The operation scheme described above is the same for laser and LED printing devices. But if we talk about the differences between these types of machines, then you should understand the device of the printing shaft, fixing the tinting component on paper.
The laser printer has a special laser that works through prisms, mirrors. But inside the LED color printer are numerous LEDs. They “decorated” the shaft along its entire length, which makes the system of prisms and mirrors superfluous.
LED printer: advantages and disadvantages
Printing machines designed using LED technology have a number of important advantages, which is why they are quite popular. For example, the units are quite compact. This is due to the small size of the lighting system, which occupies the bulk of the internal volume of the machine. Moreover, for monochrome units the difference is not too significant, but in color you can immediately notice where the printer is on LEDs, and where - with a laser.
Another important difference between a laser printer and an LED printer is the method of forming images on paper. The mechanism with LEDs is much simpler, since there is no need for moving elements. Well, the simpler the design of the machine, the more reliable the device and its longer service life. However, this applies only to a high-quality manufactured unit, which is regularly serviced and refilled with good toner. If we talk about service, then this is another important difference between a laser printer and an LED. A device with LEDs will be cheaper: technical inspection and repair are less often required, and they are somewhat simpler.
No problem
The advantages and disadvantages of LED printers are moments that have long been controversial for buyers. Is it worth it to spend money on such a car? It is known that LEDs have one significant problem - the brightness of the glow varies quite a lot, and this is difficult to control. The manufacturer usually mentions 15% deviations, but in fact this figure can reach 30%. Much depends on the quality of the lamp. With similar parameters for different companies, LEDs can vary greatly in terms of actual deviation, and this determines the quality of the print. In this regard, OKI LED printers have proven themselves quite well.
To correct deviations, a special system was developed that allows you to keep the print quality at a high level. For laser printers, it is quite simple, since there is only one light source. But for the sake of their competitors, the engineers had to make up their minds, because the principle of the LED printer in the printing of one A4 sheet is the use of more than five thousand light sources. However, they solved the problem, developed a compensation system - however, it costs significantly more than for a laser, which affects the quality of the machine as a whole. Cheaply the best LED printers are not for sale.
Weaknesses: are there any more?
Considering the advantages and disadvantages of LED printers, you can not ignore the speed parameter. If we compare the main part of the market models, we can see that the print speed of a laser device is almost two times higher than that of an LED-based one. However, the disadvantage is quite relative. Of course, the best LED printers print faster than the average, but for the average person, even a relatively slow machine is unlikely to be a source of inconvenience.
In the framework of home use, it is almost impossible to notice the difference. In fact, only office workers, where there is a lot of paper flow, will have to pay attention to this, and you have to print hundreds, thousands of pages per day.
Is the picture good?
Others, studying the advantages and disadvantages of LED printers, have doubts about which column the image quality belongs to. The fact is that the use of LEDs allows for higher saturation. Achieve this due to elementary points. In laser printers, a similar method is also used, but there is an alternative way to shift points. In LED, it is not available, since all light sources have a clear rigid mount.
The principle of operation of the LED printer explains the main problems with the image obtained when printing. For example, individual LEDs cannot be focused as you like. A separate light source is very small, and this imposes restrictions on the quality of the resulting image.
There is a place everywhere
LED printing presses are very widely used these days. These stand both in offices and at home, and are used where you need to print a lot of documents, and where you only have to print a page or two a month. They are economical, inexpensive and affordable to a wide range of people. Mostly the models on sale are designed for a fairly large amount of printing, which is why they have become widespread in work groups of various sizes - from very small to large.
One of the important advantages of LED printing is the lack of influence on oxygen molecules, which competitors cannot boast of. During operation, the machine does not produce ozone molecules, due to which it is considered safe and recommended for home use even for families with small children. It is acceptable to use such printing machines in various institutions - medical, childcare and social.
Technology specifics
It has already been indicated above that laser and LED printing machines have much in common. This is due to similar basic principles, while the difference is explained by the specifics of the design. Cars take up little space, work quietly and rarely break down.
During operation, the LEDs quickly illuminate the required sections of the field, using reliable technical solutions. Due to this, printing through LEDs has become effective, economical, attractive. The cost of one print is very low, it’s easy to use the machine, there is no need for maintenance.
How it all began?
For the first time, LED printers appeared in 1987. OKI became the pioneer in the market. Since 1998, machines that print color images have appeared on sale. The manufacturer still successfully operates in this market, produces machines for black-and-white and color printing. The main area of specialization of the organization is single-pass tandem printing. Its feature is a minimum of time for one print.
Single-pass technology means that one sheet passes through 4 printing mechanisms, each responsible for its own part of the CMYK color scheme. The mechanisms have their own light sources, so that the shades are transmitted as accurately as possible. The color print issued in the output tray is formed in one pass of paper through the print roller. But if you have to print a black and white sheet, then the three drums go a little to the side, and the sheet passes them without losing a split second.
Quality Improvement: It's Possible
There are manufacturers who supply models with unique proprietary enhancements. The pioneer in this area is the same company that first released the LED printer - OKI. They also developed a special high-quality toner. Its use makes prints of high quality, clear, brilliant. Gloss is guaranteed even when the print media is plain office paper.
This manufacturer provides a lifetime warranty on all of its LED lines. Warranty software - a three-year program.
The world is full of competitors
OKI is not the only company with pleasure working with one of the most promising printing technologies. In this area, Xerox printing machines are well established. The company regularly presents new products attractive to those who appreciate the last word of technology. The printing machines offered by the manufacturer are at the highest level.
All units supplied to the market by Xerox are distinguished by their speed and intelligent mode. In addition, the devices are equipped with an automation system, so that they can independently switch between trays and automatically select the appropriate mode, as well as determine the thickness of the loaded office paper. Typically, Xerox machines also track how much paper is left in the tray, and alert the user when stocks run out. However, it is worth recognizing that other printing machines of this manufacturer - laser and inkjet - can do this.
Clarity, precision and quality
The use of LED technology has one important drawback - this is the low accuracy of spot lighting. The comparison is noticeable if you make the same prints on laser and LED printers immediately.
LEDs are more suitable for printing documents, although they are also good when you need to print photos, pictures. However, such machines should be used only for amateur pictures, otherwise the quality will disappoint. LED printers benefit from high print speed and good enough quality.
LEDs: it is available!
If we talk about the main advantages of LED printers, then in the first place they usually mention the cost. The difference is more noticeable when comparing the price of color copies: LEDs are about half the price. If we talk about monochrome printers, then the difference is not so great, although it is still noticeable. In addition, all LED cars are reliable and rarely break.
An important feature of printing on an LED printer is the high quality of the print of the edges of the sheet. It is provided by the immobility of light sources. The same stillness is the reason why laser printers print a bit slower than many LED printers.
What to look for?
The key feature of the technology under consideration is the presence of LEDs, the dimensions of which, as indicated above, are very small. Due to this, it is possible to adjust the size of the printed point up to scanty. This technique is indispensable for achieving a smoothing effect. In modern models, brightness control of light sources is provided - for each LED, the parameter is set individually. This technology affected the quality of prints, significantly improving them.
The difference between a LED printer and a laser is the separation of the image drum and toner cartridge. This allows each component to be changed individually as it wears. A cartridge is a cylinder, the bulk of the price of which is the cost of the actual coloring material (about 90%). Therefore, it makes no sense to refill the cartridge, each time you can buy a new, legal, high-quality, that is, do not spoil the car. Saving on a cartridge leads to a quick breakdown. Moreover, the manufacturer, who discovered that the user himself refilled the cartridge, may not accept the machine for warranty service.
Personality: advantage or disadvantage?
Of course, when it comes to man, individuality is an important and necessary quality for a full-fledged person. But you can’t say this about printed sheets of paper. And this leads to another negative quality of LED printers - the inability to print two completely identical sheets using such a machine.
When printing, LED rulers are used , consisting of a huge number of light sources. When transferring the image for printing, transcoding is performed, but slight differences in the decryption process are possible, which leads to the appearance of a difference in the images. Two completely identical prints cannot be made. Although, of course, the difference will be quite small, so you can consider it insignificant and not pay attention to this moment. Moreover, laser printers do the same.