Wednesday, October 9, 2013

Thermal Barcode Printers: A look at Printhead and DPI Requirements

Every printer needs a way of locating the Top of Form (top of the label.) Thermal Barcode Printers have two ways of doing this. Which one you use depends on the type of label you are using.

How the printer locates the Top of Form

  • Gap/Notch Media
  • Black Line Media (Black Bar, Mark)
  • Continuous Media
Most labels have an 1/8th inch gap between each label. In this case the printer uses a Transmissive or Gap sensor. This sensor shines a light at the label while another sensor measures how much light is getting through. More light gets though the gap between labels letting the printer know where the Top of Form is. The same sensor works on labels/tags that have a hole or notch on one side.
The second type of sensor is a Reflective or Mark sensor. It is used for media that has a black line on the back. Instead of shining light through the label it shines light on the bottom and watches how much light is reflected back. When the light hits the black line the light level changes, letting the printer know where the Top of Form is.
Some media does not use either sensor. It is called Continuous, meaning there is no way for the printer to determine top of form. In these cases the sensors are just turned off. The printer just prints when you tell it to without looking for top of form. Receipt paper is an example of a continuous media.

7 comments:

brittanymlemay said...

I really thank you for the valuable info on this great subject and look forward to more great posts. Thanks a lot for enjoying this beauty article with me. I am appreciating it very much! Looking forward to another great article. Good luck to the author! All the best! Compare canon pixma g3010 vs epson l3150

optimus3dp.com said...

I think I have never seen such blogs ever before that has complete things with all details which I want. Know the optimus p1 3d printer price at optimus3dp.com.

Robert John said...

These are some of the useful printers bar code features are defined here. Enterprise resource planning is the best strategy to get high ROIs in a business.

Rudkav International Pvt Ltd said...

This is actually good to read content of this blog. A is very general and huge knowledgeable platform has been known by this blog. I in reality appreciate this blog to have such kind of educational knowledge.
Thermal paper roll price

Maheen said...

Hi buddies, it is great written piece entirely defined, continue the good work constantly. best home office printer

Barcode Market said...


This is really a good source of information, I will often follow it to know more information and expand my knowledge, I think everyone should know it, thanks Best Buy Cheap Ean Barcode service provider

Elizabeth J. Neal said...

Nice to be visiting your blog again, it has been months for me. Well this article that i’ve been waited for so long. I need this article to complete my assignment in the college, and it has same topic with your article. Thanks, great share. renting impresoras