explainthatstuff
Dot-matrix printout
Back in the '60s, '70s, and '80s, computers made their printout with dot-matrix printers - so called because each letter is printed with a rectangular grid (matrix) of metal needles. When the needles press against an inked ribbon, you get a pattern of dots making up the different letters, numbers, and symbols. The big advantage of this is that you can (theoretically) print any typeface (font) with only one small matrix of needles. The more needles, the better the print quality - although you can almost always see the dots. Letter-quality (LQ) and near letter quality (NLQ) printers supposedly had so many needles that the dots were all but invisible.
It's getting harder to find "preserved examples" of dot matrix print technology now, so I thought I'd better upload this old train ticket (from 2000) while I still could!
This from our article on inkjet printers.
Our images are published under a Creative Commons Licence (see opposite) and are free for noncommercial use. We also license our images for commercial use. Please contact us directly via our website for more details.
Dot-matrix printout
Back in the '60s, '70s, and '80s, computers made their printout with dot-matrix printers - so called because each letter is printed with a rectangular grid (matrix) of metal needles. When the needles press against an inked ribbon, you get a pattern of dots making up the different letters, numbers, and symbols. The big advantage of this is that you can (theoretically) print any typeface (font) with only one small matrix of needles. The more needles, the better the print quality - although you can almost always see the dots. Letter-quality (LQ) and near letter quality (NLQ) printers supposedly had so many needles that the dots were all but invisible.
It's getting harder to find "preserved examples" of dot matrix print technology now, so I thought I'd better upload this old train ticket (from 2000) while I still could!
This from our article on inkjet printers.
Our images are published under a Creative Commons Licence (see opposite) and are free for noncommercial use. We also license our images for commercial use. Please contact us directly via our website for more details.