Laser Printer’s History

A couple of important people…
1938. Chester Carlson invented and patented a process of dry printing called electro photography, which he later renamed xerography.By using static electricity to transfer dry ink, or toner, onto a sheet of paper, a photocopy, or Xerox, is produced. In 1946, the Haloid Company, which is now the Xerox Corporation, took interest in Carlson’s invention, and by 1949, the first Xerox photocopier machines were brought to market.

1962. In the General Electric laboratories, Robert Hall invented the semiconductor injection laser. Semiconductor injection lasers are the most common type of laser used today. They are small, inexpensive and used in many common items such as in cd players, supermarket bar code readers, and laser pointers.

Concepts Collide…
In 1969, a researcher for Xerox, Gary Starkweather, created the first laser printer by modifying a Xerox photocopier with a semiconductor injection laser. By 1976, the laser printer became commercially available by Xerox.

In the 80’s, as personal computers increasingly became popular, people wanted a printer that would provide higher quality graphics and text that they could use at home. Hewlett Packard met this demand with a laser printer that could print a page in about 7.5 seconds. Made from a Canon engine on HP software, their laser printers was smaller, cheaper, and easier to use at the home or office, however, they were still very heavy and cost thousands of dollars. HP also redesigned the toner cartridge to be disposable and easily replace by the user. This sparked the recycled and compatible toner industry. With growing concerns of non-biodegradable materials in the landfills, companies started manufacturing recycled, refurbished or compatible toner cartridges.

In the 90’s, color laser printers began to make a scene. Good quality color prints were not often seen in homes and offices, but as the technology progressed and laser printer popularity rose, color laser printers, although very expensive, were now commercially available. Monochrome laser printer prices also began to drop as other companies like Apple and IBM added to the competition of laser printer advancement. In 1990, HP introduced a laser printer that retail a ground breaking low of $1000.

It is now 2010, and laser printers continue to progress, meeting and surpassing our futuristic ideas.
30 years ago, in the days of light sabers and death rays, the idea of using a laser to print on paper would have sounded like a futuristic idea. With great advances in technology happening every day, we get closer connected to our environment as well as our machines. Some printer companies are also working the government in the efforts to track counterfeiters with nearly invisible tiny yellow dots that can code data such as date, time, serial number, and even the place and/or person who bought the printer. Ecological concerns are pushing printer companies into greener practices and eco-friendly products are more widely available. We are able to network our printers, connect to them from the internet and control them wirelessly.

Laser printer technology has come a long way, and we strive to deliver information as well as quality service you deserve. At Laser Printer Resource we want to help educate you on your products. We are the Bay Area resource for all things printer, fax, toner, ink, repair related. Located in Walnut Creek, with local service to Sacramento to Concord to San Jose, and all around the east bay area, we have technicians that will service anywhere in California.

Questions? We’ve got answers. (877) 993-3366