If you are not familiar with industrial or commercial printing, you may first need to understand what print heads are and what they are used for. Digital printers do not simply apply the ink in the ink cartridge directly to the printing medium. Instead, the print head is used to remove ink from the ink cartridge and drip or spray it onto the media to create the desired image or text.
The print head is a complex device, each color of ink (at least cyan, yellow, magenta, and black) has nozzles and sophisticated electronic components. The circuit sends signals to the print head nozzles telling them when and how much ink to release onto the media. Depending on the type of printhead your printer uses, the way they do this can vary greatly.
Piezo print head
Both types of print heads drop ink onto the print media, but the similarities end there. Piezoelectric print heads are equipped with micro-elements in each print nozzle. When a charge is applied to these elements, the nozzles move and ink drops onto the media. Piezoelectric elements and electric charges work much like an on/off switch-a charge turns on the nozzle, and a lack of charge turns it off.
Piezoelectric print heads allow a higher degree of control, creating precise ink dots, which together form detailed images. If you want to use water-based, UV-curable or solvent-based inks, we recommend that you choose a printer with a piezoelectric print head.
Thermal inkjet print head
Thermal print heads use heat instead of electrical charge to "turn on" ink. The tiny resistor connected to the print nozzle is energized to heat the ink in the nozzle. The ink boils and evaporates; ink bubbles are released from the nozzle onto the print medium to create an image.
Although you can imagine that this process is less accurate than piezoelectric printing, thermal print heads can still be used in many applications. We recommend this type of print head for textiles and water-based inks. If you buy HP printheads, you are buying thermal inkjet printheads.
