Direct-to-Card or High Definition Printing, What's The Difference?

ABOUT DIRECT-TO-CARD PRINTING TECHNOLOGY

Direct-to-Card (DTC™) printing technology is the most common technology used by desktop ID systems to print images directly onto the surface of a plastic card. It does this by heating a special print ribbon beneath a thermal printhead, resulting in the transfer of colour from the ribbon to a blank plastic card.

DTC card printing technology uses two printing methods: dye-sublimation and resin thermal transfer.

Dye-sublimation is the process used to print smooth, continuous-tone images that look truly photographic. This process uses a dye-based ribbon that is partitioned by a number of consecutive colour panels. The panels are grouped in a repeating series of colours – Yellow, Magenta and Cyan (YMC) – along the length of the ribbon. During printing, a printhead containing hundreds of thermal elements heats the dyes on the ribbon, which vaporize and diffuse into the surface of the card. A separate pass is made for each of the three colour panels. By combining the colours and varying the heat used to transfer them, the printer is able to produce up to 16.7 million colours.

Resin Thermal Transfer uses a single-colour ribbon to print sharp black text and crisp bar codes, which can be read by both infrared and visible-light scanners. This process uses the same thermal printhead as dye-sublimation; however solid dots of colour are transferred rather than a combination of colours.

ABOUT HIGH DEFINITION PRINTING TECHNOLOGY

High Definition Printing™ technology printer/encoders use dye-sublimation to print crisp, 300 dpi images on the underside of special HDP Film. HDP technology extends the life of your plastic cards naturally: Images are sandwiched between HDP Film and the card, making them virtually tamperproof and highly resistant to wear and tear. In addition, clamshell proximity cards and uneven cards with embedded electronics are no problem for High Definition Printing and HDP Film.

HDP is just as flexible when it comes to the encoding of electronic cards. HDP's encoding options include some of the world's most commonly used e-card technologies, including HID®, MIFARE®, ISO 7816 smart chips and more. With these capabilities, an HDP printer/encoder is an ideal choice for organizations needing card-based access control, time and attendance tracking, cafeteria payments, membership programs and more.

HDP does its part to ensure that your cards last as long as you need them to. An optional in-line, dual-sided HDP Card Lamination Module (LC) can be added to your HDP printer/encoder at the factory or in the field: You choose. With PolyGuard™ Overlaminate, HDP cards are 25 times more durable than those with a standard overlay. PolyGuard can be custom-configured to incorporate a proprietary holographic design containing any number of embedded security features.

When you reinforce HDP-printed cards with PolyGuard protection, your organization is virtually guaranteed cards with unbeatable durability and protection from card tampering.