Thermal Inkjet vs. Piezoelectric Inkjet
The Thermal Inkjet technology allows for cheaper production of print heads, but due to the fact that they must heat up to print, they wear out sooner than Piezoelectric print heads. Because they are cheaper and prone to wear, Thermal Inkjet print heads are normally integrated into the ink cartridge and get replaced with each change of the print cartridge (i.e. Hewlett Packard, Lexmark, Rimage, Primera).
Piezoelectric print heads offer better control of droplet size but they are more expensive and therefore included as a permanent part of the printer (i.e. Epson). Because the Piezoelectric print heads stay inside the printer, the replacement ink cartridges tend to be cheaper because they are only tanks full of ink. Also, individual ink colors can be changed, this is important because if you only run out of one color you need only replace the color you need, not the entire set.
Like any technology there are some pros and cons of each, some things that one Process does better than the other. The three major aspects to look at are: initial cost, consumable cost, and product quality.
The Break Down |
Inkjet |
Thermal |
| Thermal |
Piezoelectric |
Direct Transfer |
Re-Transfer |
| Initial Cost |
Low |
Lowest |
High |
Highest |
| Consumable cost |
Higher |
High |
Lowest |
Fixed |
| Special Media Req'd |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
Yes |
| Print Quality |
Excellent |
Excellent |
Excellent |
Best |
| Image type |
Photo |
Photo |
Text & simple graphics |
Photo |
| Colors |
Full color |
Full color |
Monochrome |
Full color |
