Direct thermal printers create images by selectively
heating coated paper as the paper passes over a thermal print head. The
coating will turn black in the places where it is heated, this creates the
image. Not long ago, two-color direct thermal printers were produced, this
allows printing of both red and black by heating to different temperatures.
With higher print speed and substantially quieter operation, direct thermal
printers are replacing more and more dot matrix printers that print cash
register receipts. Until the year 2000, most fax machines used direct
thermal printing, now only the cheapest models use it, the rest have
switched to either ink jet printing, laser or thermal wax transfer to allow
plain-paper printing. Direct thermal paper is very sensitive to heat,
abrasion (can cause heat), friction (causes heat, that will darken the
paper), light (causes it to fade) and water.
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