Feature: 5 Future Printer Technologies

Inkjet Prints 2 Pages Per Second

SilverBrook claims to have developed a new type of “Memjet” printer technology. This device “supposedly uses a printhead that spans the width of an A4 page.” Best of all, it’s capable of printing at speeds of up to 2 pages per second. One drawback, it’ll set you back $2,995. Availability has not yet been announced.

If we ignore this dodgy presentation, there’s at least one “innovation” that Silverbrook is promising that could be met by any other printer manufacturer overnight: a relatively reasonable ink cost of 50ml for under $20

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Temporary Printing Machine

This incredible “Temporary Printing Machine” uses “an array of ultraviolet LEDs moving over a light sensitive surface to create monochrome images.”

The printed effect lasts between 30 seconds and a minute, so the image slowly fades, creating a blank canvas for the machine to print on again. The software can be customized to print just about anything, and can even be hooked up to a camera to continually print a portrait of whatever the camera sees

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Toshiba Printer Erases and Reprints on Single Sheet of Paper

According to Vnunet, Toshiba has developed a printer (B-SX8R) that can erase and reprint — up to 500 times — on a single sheet of paper.

Toshiba’s process uses a special pigment in the paper that reacts to heat. If heated above 180 degrees centigrade the pigment turns black, creating an image on the sheet. However, if the surface is heated to between 130 and 170 degrees the pigment reverts to white, allowing the image to be ‘erased’

Inkless Printer

Zink Imaging has developed the world’s first inkless printer. It uses special paper that is made of “micro-thin layers containing three types of colour-forming dye crystals – yellow on top, magenta in the middle and cyan on the bottom.” Best of all, you’ll only have to wait 30-seconds for a picture to print. Expect to shell out $200 for this device when it’s released.

To bring out the correct colour at each pixel, the temperature and exposure to the heater element is precisely controlled. The crystals in the top yellow layer require the highest temperature and shortest time to melt and become coloured; the magenta middle layer a lower temperature and longer time; and the bottom cyan layer the lowest temperatures and longest exposure time

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Wireless Printer Concept Hangs On Your Wall

Here’s a first: a wireless printer that hangs on your wall and “displays printouts like a picture in a frame.”

Considering how flat screen displays and wireless laptops have evolved it seems weird this is the first flat-printer concept I’ve ever seen

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