a b c d e f g h i j l m n o p r s t u
Air cylinders
Pneumatic devices used to raise and lower the rolls.
Ambient
The surrounding temperature of air in the room where equipment is located.
Apparent resolution
Refers to the fact that the eye perceives an image as having greater detail than it does in physical reality.
Banding, horizontal
A horizontal stripe of any width in the printed image.
Banding, vertical
A vertical stripe of any width in the printed image.
BIOS
An acronym for basic input/output system.
BMP
An acronym for microsoft’s version of a bitmap file.
Bit map
A data structure used to represent a bit image.
Bitmap
A rasterized graphic image (see raster image) formed by a rectangular grid of pixels or dots.
CMYK
An acronym for cyan-magenta–yellow–black. a color model that is similar to cmy.
Carriage
An enclosure holding the jet packs, secondary ink system and control hardware for the print heads.
Carriage bearings
Ball bearing assemblies which support the print heads on the rails.
Carriage drive assembly
The assembly consisting of the carriage motor, capstan, encoder, bearings, pulleys, mounting plates, drive belt, and encoder coupler.
Carriage motor
The dc motor used to move the carriage.
Carriage ribbon cables
Multicolor flat cables that interconnect the circuit boards on the carriage.
Channel
A component of a digital image that carries the data for a color component or a mask.
Closed loop
A control strategy in which actions are determined by feedback from the existing environment.
Contouring
Steps in what should be even color gradations in the printed image.
Control monitor
The CRT monitor that displays the user interface.
DPI
An acronym for dots per inch. a measure of image resolution in a printed image.
Dongle
A device connected to an input/output port to permit the use of a particular software program on that computer.
EPS
An acronym for encapsulated postscript. a postscript file format that can be used as an independent entity.
Edge detector
The electronic module on the carriage that senses the edge of the substrate along the platen.
Encoder
An electrical device that provides the computer with information on carriage and substrate positions.
Fat
An acronym for file allocation table. a table or list maintained by the operating system to manage disk space.
Firmware
Software routines stored in read-only memory (rom).
GIF
An acronym for graphic interchange format. gif is one of the standard image formats recognized by web browsers.
Giganet
Network connections come in various bandwidths. bandwidth refers to the amount of data that can be transmitted down the network pipe. for superwide digital printing, giganet is good, 100 base t is okay, and 10 base t is too slow for transferring large amounts of data.
Grand format/superwide
Digital printers or materials 72 inches or greater in width.
Hardware
The physical components of a computer system, including any peripheral equipment such as printers, modems, and mouse devices.
ICC profile
A file or set of data that applies values to maintain color consistency from device to device. icc stands for international color consortium, the forum responsible for the standards.
I/O
An acronym for input/output. the complementary tasks of gathering data for a computer program to work with and of making the results of the computer’s activities available to the user or to the other computer processes.
Ink level sensor
Float switch in secondary ink tank that senses the ink level in the tank.
Ink pump
The pump that moves ink from the primary ink tank to the secondary ink tank.
Ink supply tubes
Long polyethylene tubes between the ink pumps and the print heads.
Inkjet printer
A type of printer that sprays tiny streams of quick-drying ink onto a substrate.
Interface cable
The cable that interconnects the image computer and the vutek printer.
Jet tube
The polyethylene tube that is between the secondary ink tank and the jet.
Lines
Horizontal stripes of any width found in the printed image.
Motor pulley
The toothed metal gear by which the carriage motor turns the drive belt.
Native resolution
The resolution at which the print head manufacturer recommends operation.
Nylatrac
A nylon skeleton shield used to support and protect the tubes and cables running between the printer and the carriage.
Nozzle
The orifice located on the jet assembly that is used to discharge a stream of atomized ink droplets.
Object-oriented image (vector)
A scalable image that can be enlarged or reduced without loss of detail.
PPI
An acronym for pixels per inch. a measure of resolution in a digital image or computer display.
PS
An acronym for postscript®. a page description programming language created by adobe. it is a device–independent industry standard for outputting documents and graphics.
Piezo
the preferred technology for an inkjet print head, primarily because of its durability. the technology uses piezoelectric materials located near the ink reservoir of each nozzle. as electric charges are applied, the material vibrates inward and forces a tiny amount of ink out of the nozzle. when it vibrates out, it pulls more ink into the reservoir.
Pinholes
small white spots on the image, 1 mm or less in diameter, appearing in groups.
Posterization
See contouring.
Postscript®
A page description programming language created by adobe. it is a device–independent industry standard for outputting documents and graphics.
Primary ink tank
The plastic tanks located in the ink cabinet.
Printer controller
An internal computer that is used to control all printer operations.
Printer power supply
A large enclosed assembly located in the rear of the controller compartment used to supply a variety of dc voltages to the printer.
Purge
To flush ink through the system to release any obstructions in the system.
RFI
An acronym for radio frequency interference. this is noise introduced into an electronic circuit, such as a radio or television, by electromagnetic radiation produced by another circuit, such as a computer.
RIP
An acronym for raster image processor. the hardware/software that takes individual pixels in a digital file and breaks them down into individual cmyk dots that a press or printer can read for output. rip quality is very important; when assessing a rip, look for image quality, speed and functionality.
RS-232
An accepted standard for serial communications between two computer devices, e.g. the printer and a computer.
RTL
An acronym for Raster Translation Language. RTL, a subset of hpgl/2, is a format used for driving color printers.
Rails
Precision rails on which the carriage traverses.
Raster
The process of rendering an image or page, pixel by pixel, in a sweeping horizontal motion, one line after another.
Raster image
An image that is defined as a collection of pixels arranged in a rectangular array of lines of dots or pixels.
Raster Image Processor (RIP)
The hardware/software that takes individual pixels in a digital file and breaks them down into individual CMYK dots that a press or printer can read for output. RIP quality is very important; when assessing a RIP, look for image quality, speed and functionality.
Raster Transfer Language (RTL)
The language commonly used to output data from a RIP and transfer it to the digital printer. the printer picks up the rtl data and outputs the information.
Resolution
The number of pixels (picture elements) per unit of linear measurement (inch) on a computer monitor or the number of dots per inch in output form.
SWOP
An acronym for standards for web offset printing. this is a specification used to establish a method of reproducing process color with predictable results.
Satelliting of artifacts
Small deposits of ink scattered about the ink droplet. this effect occurs in the horizontal direction of the print and usually manifests itself to the user as a “halo.”
Secondary ink tank
A small ink tank mounted on the carriage.
Skewing
The uneven tracking of the substrate on the platen and the take–up roller.
Sludge
A mud-like substance that forms in ink cans from ink particles.
Spatter
Dots that can appear on a printed image. spatter seems to be caused by the use of denser–than–normal ink.
Take-up tension control
This control is used to adjust the amount of tension applied to the take-up roller.
TIFF
An acronym for Tagged Image File Format, TIFF is a standard file format commonly used for scanning, storage, and interchange of gray–scale and color images.
Tension switch
This switch controls the torque motor direction: forward (wind) or reverse (unwind).
Torque motor
The motor that turns the take-up roller.
Umbilical assembly
The assembly that encloses the cables and tubes that run from the printer to the carriage. commonly referred to as the nylatrac.
