Thermal Transfer & POS Ribbons? What Are They?

Hi again,

Some of you have been asking about the Thermal Transfer Ribbon tab and the POS and Dot Matrix Ribbon tab at www.tlcIT.com.

What are they?

And that's a great question!

Thermal Transfer Ribbons are ink ribbons for a thermal printer. POS Ribbons are ink ribbons similar to the old typewriter ribbons used for Point of Sale printers.

You might ask, what are thermal or Point Of Sale printers?

I'm sure you've seen them before without realizing it.

Two examples that you're sure to recognize.

You've probably seen a thermal or Point Of Sale printer and not known it. For instance have you ever been to WalMart?

When you get your cash register receipt, its printed with a thermal or point of sale printer. The printer is incorporated into the cash register.

Another example?

Ok!

Have you ever pumped your own gas at BP, 7-Eleven or Sheetz? The receipt that is printed at the gas pump or even the cash register comes from a POS or thermal printer too!

There are many kinds of POS printers and basically two kinds of Thermal Printers that I am aware of.

One is a "direct thermal" printer and the other is a "thermal transfer" printer.

The differences between the two are many but the basic difference is:

"Direct Thermal Printers" do not use a ribbon to print

and

"Thermal Transfer Printers" do use a ribbon.

I'll spare you the technical details about how they actually print (heat transfer) but if you are really interested you can check out the webopedia article on thermal printers.

Each type too requires a special kind of label or paper to print on.

Our Thermal Transfer Labels and Direct Thermal Labels and cardstock are clearly noted at our site.

But, if you ever have any any questions about whether they will work for your printer, please call or email us just to make sure. It helps if you tell us your printer make and model too!

Thanks for sharing your time about this HOT subject...

Rick