Printer resolution

Joe Delaronde · From: Selkirk, Manitoba, Canada

Which brand of printers have the highest ACTUAL print resololution? I was at the computer store yesterday looking at print samples. I found some of the supposedly higher resolution DPI printers' pics were not any better than the lower DPI brands. They demonstrated using high quaility photo paper.
Is this 1200x? DPI a gimic number or will they actually print picture quality pages, if so which printers will do this??? Joe

Jack Stoner · From: Kansas City, MO

You have to read the fine print in the specs. Some state a particular resolution but it's actually a software or two pass thing to get that resolution. HP is bad about that on their Deskjet's. But, I had a Lexmark that was a 1200dpi printer and now have a HP that is not but the HP has better picture printing, when I go to the "best" mode.

Everett Cox · From: Marengo, OH, USA (deceased)

Joe-- While many SCANNERS use software interpolation to achieve high resolutions, printers do not. I don't know what kinds of things Jack was talking about. Printers generally require special papers for the highest quality results but that is because of ink splatter and absorbing issues rather than 'gimics'. For many years, Epson has been my best general purpose brand. They have several models that provide up to 2880x720 resolution at reasonable prices. The url follows. --Everett

http://ww w.epson.com/...&oid=-8165

[This message was edited by b0b on 24 November 2000 at 08:30 PM.]

Jack Stoner · From: Kansas City, MO

Everett, HP has, over the years, promoted printers that have "X" dot resolution, e.g. 600 dot resolution but in actuality they are a lower resolution but through two passes or software manipulation they produce equivalent to a 600 dot resolution.

True, you have to select the photographic paper modes to get the best resolution on a HP (I have an 882C printer). But usually you have to change the default settings to get the best resolution on other printers too.

Joe Delaronde · From: Selkirk, Manitoba, Canada

I'm using a Canon BJC-4100. It does a pretty good job and is supposed to go to 600dpi in high resolution. Some print jobs are are ty good using special paper and changing the defaults, but the settings seem to change. But like you said Jack, if I want high res I should change the defaults. The printer does a perfect job printing regular text and Cad drawings. The Cad drawings, when full size, are to spec. I'm looking for a printer where I can print family tree files and include photos of the family members....Joe

David Pennybaker · From: Conroe, TX USA

What you must remember is that these numbers are DOTS PER INCH, not pixels per inch. There is a difference. The printers will use many dots to make up a pixel.

If you're wanting the printer for general-purpose printing, with the occasional color photograph, you're best bet is with Hewlett Packard.

If you're wanting to do mainly photographs, then the winner is the Epson 870, with the Epson Premium Glossy Photo Paper. It looks better than the high-end HP photo printers (by a small margin). The main difference is that the Epson ink and that Epson paper is VERY water-resistant. You can touch the photo, or put it behind glass in a frame, and it won't smear. It is even light-fast for about 10 - 20 years (equivalent to a real photo). The HP smears if you touch it, and some of the ink comes off when you frame the pics.

Note: most of the "brand x makes a better-looking picture than brand y" stuff you hear is based on looking at the prints very closely with a loupe. I don't know about you, but that's not how I look at 8x10's or 4x6's. I either hang'em on the wall, or put them in a frame. At that distance, current inkjet printers all look about the same. But the Epson 870 wins hands-down for water-resistance and light-fastness (using the right paper).

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The Unofficial Photographer of The Wilkinsons

Jack Stoner · From: Kansas City, MO

Some of the Cannon printers have an option for a high res color cartridge that is used in place of the standard color cartridge for "photographic quality" picture printing. I think the BJC4100 is one of those. May want to check into the extra cartridge. I think they are around $50 but that's cheaper than buying another printer.

Joe Delaronde · From: Selkirk, Manitoba, Canada

I'll check the Canon site. Thanks all for your help!!! Joe

Bobby Lee · From: Cloverdale, California, USA

High resolution is not always desirable. Remember that a 1200 dpi page can take 4 times as long to render and print as a 600 dpi page. I have a very high end Canon color laser printer, and it can't print more than 4 pages per minute after the page is rendered in memory (which can take over a minute).

If you don't have enough memory in your computer, a high resolution printer can bring you to almost a dead stop when rendering pictures. In my opinion, you need a magnifying glass to see the difference between 600 and 1200 anyway. 300 dpi is plenty for pictures and all but the smallest text.

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Jonathan Cullifer · From: Gallatin, TN

Unless you are going to print digital photographs, you do not need anything higher then 600dpi. Once you get up in that range, then most people will not notice the difference between 600dpi and something higher, and the only true way to get anything higher and not sacrifice your speed is with a laser printer, but these are, IMHO, more practical for businesses than indivisuals.

Jonathan

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