Articles | Are LED and LCS Printers Also Laser Printers?

The title question is interesting, because at first glance, a layman will always dispute that LED, LCS and laser are not the same, per se. LED stands for light emitting diode, whereas LCS stands for liquid crystal shutter. Both are not exactly lasers. However, laser, LED and LCS are major light sources which may be used for any computer printing equipment operating on the concept of electrophotography. In essence, therefore, LED printers, LCS printers and laser printers may be loosely considered as laser printing equipment, as most sellers have led consumers to believe.

In laser printers, the light source consists of a laser beam, a rotating mirror and the focusing lens. In such a kind of laser set-up, the laser is permanent, which justifies the need for a mirror. In which case, the mirror takes care of scanning the laser beam to and fro across the page as the drum rotates, with the mirror itself also rotating back and forth in the horizontal direction. Meanwhile, the function of the lens is to keep a uniform laser beam size as the laser performs a scan throughout the page. Printers which make use of a light source as described above are the true laser printers in the strictest sense of the terminology.

Meanwhile, another common source of light for the xerographic printing process is LED. In a LED printer, the light source consists of an array of LEDs together with a fixed focusing lens. A led printer produces a complete image line simultaneously. The procedure is, therefore, different from the back and forth direction of true laser printing.

A third source of light for xerographic printing is the LCS method, which is basically similar in principle with the LED light source procedure. However, this method makes use a quartz lamp which beams through a group of liquid crystal shutters that open or close in order to show the drum. The imaging process, like in LED printers, also proceeds one entire line at a time.

LED printers have less moving parts than laser printers, and hence, a lower rate of failure is expected. In terms of image quality, the LED printer can hold its own against the true laser printer. However, the main limitation of LED printers lies in its non-upgradeable resolution owing to its fixed page-width LED array processing component. Cost is almost the same as the laser printer.

LCS printers also have fewer moving parts, which suggest lesser risk of failure. However, resolution is also a main constrain of LCS printers since at the time that LCS posed its biggest challenge to laser printing, they can only print at practically half the capacity of the true laser printer at 300 dots per inch. Their biggest advantage is cost. Epson pulled out its line of LCS printers from the market during the mid-1980s observing that even with a lower cost and a similar printing technology, the LCS printers have not attained the market share projected for the product.

Time and again, it has been proven that in a competitive global market, cost may be a determining factor for product acceptance, but in due course , it is quality that takes paramount influence on consumer purchasing behaviors. Laser printers are able to hold its own against newer printing technology because consumers are satisfied with the output despite significantly higher investment requirements.