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TT vs. DT Comparisons
Thermal Transfer
Materials
Advantages
- Different facestock/ribbon combinations can provide scratch, smudge and chemical resistance
- Less expensive material than Direct Thermal
- All material is scanable in both visible and infrared light
- Much more facestock choices
- Longer printhead life
Disadvantages
- Can be very costly for short term applications
- Timely and messy to change ribbons
- Ribbon lengths rarely match label rolls lengths
Direct Thermal
Materials
Advantages
- More cost effective for short term, visible light scanable, paper applications
- Less down time on printer without having to change the ribbon
- Most used in medical applications where the end-user cannot afford to waste time or get hands dirty from the ribbon
- Glove friendly adhesive for medical applications
Disadvantages
- Cannot withstand UV light or high temperature exposure
- Facestock costs more for near infrared or infrared scanability
- Shorter shelf life
- No options for scratch resistance
- Few options for chemical resistance
- Costly to replace the printhead more often
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