What Is Print Quality?
What is the print quality? It's not just a pretty picture. It's the ability to reproduce your source material in such a way that it accurately represents what you want it to in the first place. It is influenced by factors such as the printer's specifications and the type and quality of paper used. For instance, dots per inch (DPI), print-head capability, and ink/toner are used. Print quality is a topic that has been debated by many people and in many forums. Some say it's all about the paper, while others say it's all about the printer. Other factors affect print quality, too, such as ink and toner type, the physical size of the printer, and even how much ink or toner is left in the cartridge when you replace it. Ultimately, print quality is determined by how closely your printed document matches what you see on your screen. If you're trying to produce high-quality paper with perfect color accuracy and crisp black-and-white text, you should ensure your printer supports all those features before buying one. When it comes to printing quality, there's one thing you need to know: DPI. DPI stands for dots per inch and is the standard measure of a printer's ability to mimic the number of pixels in an image or the resolution of the source image. If your printer has a lower DPI capability than the source image, the printed image becomes a down-scaled version in terms of resolution. It is not usually an issue for regular printing at smaller "office" size prints but it would significantly impact poster printing and larger formats. If you think that the only factor that affects print quality is DPI, then you are wrong. Other factors include the driver of the printer, as well as the ink or toner used. The printer driver transforms the source image into instructions for the printer to follow, determining where it places each dot on the page and what color to use. If those instructions are wrong, then the printout would be incorrect. Faulty printer driver programming is often why printers sometimes display artifacts in the printed image.
Related Terms by Consumer Electronics Technology
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