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Friday, May 11, 2018

Comparison Between Thermal Transfer Ribbons And Direct Thermal Transfer

By Robert Cole


The main difference between the two is that thermal transfer ribbons as the name suggests use ribbons while direct thermal transfer does not use any conductor to transfer. The thermal transmission involves the current print head elements melting the back part of the ribbon and transferring the front side to the label material and thus creating a print image.

The head life of a current transfer is much longer than that of the direct transmission. The material is in direct contact with the print head in direct current transfer and thus there is no kind of protection. Therefore, there is a lot of wear and tear. The current transmission has a protective back-coating that reduces friction with the head of the printer thus a longer head life.

With the direct current transmission, it is not the same. The dust and debris that may be present in the labels are in direct contact with the print head. In the process of being pulled across the print head, they may burn or physically damage the elements. In the long run, you will have printed out poor quality or premature print head failure.

The printer configuration. There are printers that can do both direct and current transmissions. You can have such and choose which one you prefer. However, there are the printers specifically made for the direct current transmission. These are more affordable as they do not have all the hardware needed to support transmission ribbons. This also saves on time as you do not have to constantly change ribbons.

The media you choose impacts the life of the print head. Before you settle on a media, you should know that it will impact the cost of operations. For example, most people think that a coated direct current label is better than the uncoated one. Basing your argument on this fact alone will cause you a lot of losses because even the inferior brands may have a coated thermal label.

The different labels will have different specifications regarding speed and even the amount of heat used. Go for a printer that minimizes the heat but maximizes the speed. Sometimes the heat may be too much and end up causing damage. For example, producing bar codes that cannot be scanned. This will be a complete way of costly resources.

Before settling for one of the print methods, consider their life. This means the amount of time they are good for. You should be keen on the amount of time your product is likely to last in the market. If it will be there for a while, you should consider the current transfer techniques. It can withstand even the harsh weather conditions. Therefore, there is no risk of the consumers being unable to read the contents.

There is also the issue of environmental friendliness. There are so many chemicals in the air that the environment keeps deteriorating by the day. Despite its major setbacks, a direct thermal transfer is actually environmental friendly. It does not use as many chemicals as current transmission and thus is better suited for the job.




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