PC Hardware

Richard Galli · Guest

Here's an amateur question?

Why can't color laser printers use paper lengths longer than (for
example) 17 inches?

The carriage limits the width, of course. But if the carriage is 11"
wide (the printer takes at least 11X17 paper) what is the reason why I
cannot print an image 24" long or longer -- either custom cut or on a
roll? Why can't I print an image 11"X24" instead of just 11"X17" ?

What prevents a laser from printing "banner" images on long paper,
assuming I can get paper packaged or cut to the length I want?

Why can't laser printers do what inkjet printers do?

I need to print images on paper 11" X 24" or on 11" wide rolls. Is there
a quality laser printer that could do it?

Thanks!

Tony · Guest

Richard
The issue is that laser printers cannot stop the paper whilst its memory is
being updated. Once the paper starts to move the page has to be completed. So
basically the memory size in a laser determines the maximum amount of data that
can be printed on a page and this in turn affects the maximum length. OKI
colour lasers will print up to1.2 (Ithink) metres in length.
Tony

Elmo P. Shagnasty · Guest

Elmo P. Shagnasty · Guest

Woody · Guest

http://computer.howstuffworks.com/laser-printer.htm

me@privacy.net · Guest

Tony · Guest

Not really Timothy, the drum is refreshed in real time by the high voltage
charging process and by the laser or the LED array.
An A4 (portrait) page is refreshed anywhere between 3 and 4 times during the
printing of the page depending on the drum diameter and this equates to 3-4
rotations of the drum.
If a longer page is printed then more refreshes are required.There are
exceptions to this but it is the most common laser printing process. If you
were to gouge a small hole in the surface of a drum you would find this would
manifest itself as 3 or 4 marks on an A4 page, not suggesting you should try
this of course!
Tony

me@privacy.net · Guest

Tony writes

Arthur Entlich · Guest

There is an Oki Data that apparently can do it, although I am still not
quite clear on how.

To explain as simply as possible, inkjet printers have a small memory
buffer because they only need to be aware of one or two lines of
information at a time, since the head is moving back and forth and the
information is rasterized as an image on the hard drive and slowly
transferred to the printer and printed, line by line.

For most of the laser printers the full sheet's image is transferred as
a printable file to the laser printer's memory, and then the image is
created wit the laser onto a drum or transfer belt while the paper is
moving and the toner is being transferred to the paper and then fused
onto it as heat is applied. That method drastically speeds up the
process, because the data transfer is one of the slower functions. The
engine can print multiple copies from the rasterized full page in memory
quite quickly, while the inkjet printer needs the data to be sent again
line by line or so, for each copy. The mechanics are also quite
complex, so although continuous laser printers exist, they are made in
small quantities and are very costly, relative to others, in general.

Art

Richard Galli wrote:

Tony · Guest

"me@privacy.net" <me@Privacy.Net> wrote:

Davy · Guest

As mentioned before the image drum diameter, the bigger the drum the
longer the print.

Imagine paper round a 12 inch diameter drum and paper round a 24"
diameter drum the paper length is twice as long.

Davy

Tony · Guest

no@spam.invalid (Davy) wrote:

Davy · Guest

Richard Galli · Guest

If a standard tabloid laser's base memory is upgraded -- say from 256
megs to 512 or 1 gig -- will it be able to print a document 11 X 24
instead of 11 X 17?

Would be nice to know.

Thanks.

rg

Tony wrote:

Tony · Guest

Richard
It will depend on the printer model, the engine has to be capable of handling
longer paper and there are several considerations.
For instance at least one of the paper trays has to be able to handle longer
paper, often tray 1 (usually the top multipurpose tray) can do this provided
the paper is supported during feeding. The engine controller must not have
built in length limitations (a design criteria). The driver has to be capable
of handling longer paper. And there are other considerations like the formatter
which converts data into marks on the paper and which controls the printer
engine.
The quick answer is that it probably will not work unless the printer was
originally designed to permit this and the drivers are written to handle it.
You would need to research the issue with the printer manufacturer or supplier.
Tony

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