CertiGuide to A+ (Core Hardware)  9  Chapter 0111:  Peripheral Devices       9  VIII  Printers

Dot-Matrix 1 Inkjet Printers

Daisy wheel printers get their name from the way the print head is designed. The print head has a series of 'petals' arranged radically. At the end of each petal is a letter or number.

A small pin behind the wheel that is controlled by an electromagnetic solenoid engages a single petal and it impacts it into the print ribbon. The printer controller makes sure that the correct letter is in front of the pin before it engages the petal.

Due to the fact that they use preset letters, daisy wheel print heads must be swapped out in order to change typestyles or font sizes. This also limits daisy wheel printers to letters and numbers, but no graphics. Like dot-matrix printers, daisy wheel printer's performance is measured in characters per second (CPS).

Dot-Matrix 1 Inkjet Printers