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Whether you want continuous-flow inkjet printing—or your customers would be better served through drop-on-demand technology—HP Thermal Inkjet (TIJ) printing solutions can provide what you want the way you want it. For the cleanest, most cost-effective solutions, compare your options below with other printing options—and you will find that HP TIJ solutions provide outstanding quality on coated and uncoated surfaces alike.

Continuous flow

Continuous inkjet printers generate a steady stream of ink, deflecting drops electronically onto the printing medium. Continuous inkjet, the oldest inkjet technology, is used in high-speed production lines to print small characters on product surfaces. The continuous flow makes image resolution difficult to control, and the complex ink-circulation system must be maintained. This process usually uses solvent-based inks.

Drop-on-demand

Drop-on-demand inkjet printers use printhead nozzles that each eject a single drop of ink only when activated. Thermal inkjet and piezoelectric are the two most common drop-on-demand inkjet technologies.

Thermal inkjet

Thermal inkjet printers use heat to generate vapor bubbles, ejecting small drops of ink through nozzles and placing them precisely on a surface to form text or images. Its advantages include small drop sizes, high printhead operating frequency, excellent system reliability, and highly controlled ink drop placement. Integrated electronics mean fewer electrical connections, faster operation, and higher color resolution. Originally developed for desktop printers, thermal inkjet printing is designed to be inexpensive, quiet, and easy to use.

Piezoelectric inkjet

Piezoelectric printing technology—commonly called piezo—pumps ink through nozzles using pressure, like a squirt gun. The printhead regulates the ink by means of an electric current passed through a material that swells to force ink onto the paper. Piezo printheads require vacuum pumps and large ink-absorbent pads to keep nozzles printing reliably. Piezo mechanical stability is also highly sensitive to small air bubbles, and the system must be flushed with ink to purge trapped air, a process that wastes a lot of ink.

Advantages of thermal inkjet technology

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