Toy thermal printers
A follow up to the recent video about medical thermal printers. During the course of making that video I googled to check current prices and my search results filled up with these novelty mini printers.
So I decided to get a couple of them in to try out - and here’s the video.
It’s just a quick one again this time due to ongoing offscreen issues, but hopefully I’ll have some more substantial offerings again for you soon.
Have a good weekend.
Comments (54)
Received my Paperang P2 and it's really pretty cool. Still dithered/no grayscale but higher resolution at 300dpi, app is very similar but the cool thing is there's a Windows/mac app to print from either via BT or USB, and... it even has an actual real Windows print driver with options like paper size etc 😂 https://imgur.com/a/BXe2PP0 More convenient to type labels and things than on the phone
That seems like a better option.
I bought the camera for my grandniece and played with the settings. I can get it a little less contrasty, but at max I get about 16 shades of gray in the middle of the spectrum. I tested with outdoor pictures, indoor pictures and pictures of grayscale test images on my computer screen. I am trying to buy extra refill paper and Amazon sells the paper for the printer you reviewed here but not the camera. The specs say they are ABOUT the same size. Mat, can you check to see if the paper from the printer will fit and work in the camera?
I’ve just checked for you and the paper I got bundled with the printer also works fine in the camera. It’s the same size.
Great Video! Does anyone know how the functionality is with a PC? I see it supports it but nothing else. I wonder if it works like a printer for your PC, or if there is some API that could make this usable for someone to print programmatically (like from a Raspberry PI)?
I imagine that the image sensor is pretty standard, but modern devices usually have a software layer which corrects for the washout. In fact; Matt can probably attest that DSLRs in RAW mode produce an uncompressed 'grey' looking image which can later be corrected. ...anyway... chances are that they just haven't done any processing from the sensor is it's cheap and probably mostly open source. Dithered images always look sharper to the eye though and if it printed images little darker would be great, although that can probably be affected with paper type. The greyscale print does seem to lose 'resolution' though in the print. Looks like if you took a still image from video vinyl and printed it.
I have a rare printing calculator from 1980’s that uses the technology. I will locate it later this week and provide the model number. Will also get you a photo and video of the printer in action.
It sounds like it might be similar to the Sinclair ZX81/Spectrum Printer tech.
Matt, enjoyed your video. If possible please consider doing a video on vintage electrostatic printers that used Aluminium coated paper and a small arc discharge to print. Thanks again for your fantastic work! Roddy
I’m totally unfamiliar with those - where are they used?
Hey Mat. Sorry to do this, but I feel like you may be able to answer this. I am currently working from home for the foreseeable future and I have a lot of downtime which I spend playing games. I have exhausted what I want to play on the Nintendo Switch and want to play some RPGs on consoles (ps4 and xbox). However, I work in a different room from the television and I do not have space in my office for full TV. No problem if you have no ideas, but are you able to recommend the smallest screen you know that: accepts HDMI, can play sound (so not a computer monitor) and is small? Like, I think a tablet would be fantastic but I know any that connect to HDMI and work as a screen. Anyway, thanks in advance and sorry to ask you, I know its kind of weird, but you have done a lot of tiny TV stuff so I feel you may know!
I'm glad you asked. Funnily enough I recently came across a few of these in various search results for other things and was curious as to how they performed. Your message has jogged my memory to test one out. So I've just ordered this one https://amzn.to/3hhCUUD (Auto-affiliated link). I noticed it was only £109 if I applied the £20 voucher that expires on Friday - so it seemed a good time to try it. It has built in speakers, is 1080p, powered via USB C and accepts Mini HDMI. It also works as a second monitor.
It is worth looking at one of the cheap ZJ-58**(as the last two digits are random, but often 02 or 09, ZJ is for ZJiang which I think is the original company) printers online. They can be found for less than $50US in some settings as a generic bluetooth printer. They come with software for image printing, but there is a "esc_pos_bluetooth" opensource project for using them generically. Some people have also gotten other more professional receipt printers to worth generically like https://www.designboom.com/technology/consti2go-receipt-printer-hacked-to-print-the-us-constitution-in-6-seconds-03-13-2014/ or https://hackaday.com/2012/04/15/printing-anything-with-a-thermal-receipt-printer/, but these require the use of an arduino and some expertise.
really enjoyed the video. It wasnt until watching the thermal printer review that i realised that i handle thermally printed paper on a weekly basis, almost all shop reciepts are thermally printed apparently. The technology we use without giving it a second thought eh?!!
Not only that, but good "receipt printers" are quite expensive, in the $300-$600USD range. They need to be fast, offer excellent contrast(ie transfer lots of heat rapidly), and handle hundreds of prints per day if not more. If you look at printers like the Epson C31CA85A9932 in photos online you will probably instantly recall seeing them many times.
I think the dithered effect works better with face pictures whereas the grayscale looked pretty good for the church photo. It gave it proper "spooky" feel.. Can you transfer screen shots from the phone to either device? I was wondering that would be a workaround for the limitations of the device.
Forget the camera for doing anything other than internally. As far as the Bluetooth printer goes - it can print pictures and since screenshots fall into that category it can print those too
Is there an affiliate link for the camera? I only saw links for the printer
I hadn’t posted one - do you think it’s worth buying?
I prefer the BT printer, the creativity features are fun, and the dithering definitely comes out more as "different" rather than the other one just aiming too high and delivering a poor result... EDIT: Looks like there's a "paperang p2" that's about the same as the peripage with a similar app and about the same price but does grayscale...
That little printer would be handy for someone on a stall wanting to print out receipts for purchases on the cheap. So long as they could render an image of it first :)
I was thinking movie tickets for some reason. I used to collect my ticket stubs but I later discovered that some theaters used thermal printers. Thus my stub for Reservoir Dogs from 1991 is essentially a blank piece of paper.
I like the grayscale better than the dither. But neither of these holds a candle to the Sony printer from your last video, despite the fact those images would be limited by NTSC/PAL resolutions.
That AR video thing was pretty cool!
That’s is pretty cool. Polaroid has something like this with their lab device. It makes Polaroid pictures from your phone. The AR works with a small barcode at the bottom of the print that the app uses to link to a stored video file.
the camera must be perfect gift for my 5 year old daughter, where did u buy em?
He added links in the video descriptions
Had a good laugh at this video; I especially liked the "Fly looking at Mat" picture from the Rabbit camera.
The 4 test photos you showed were really nice shots other than--and this is not a knock on you--the selfie that I assume you had just run outside to snap so you could include a portrait in with the scenic shots for test purposes. It seems to me that there are many scenic places to photograph not very far from where you live, in comparison to where I'm at in midwestern USA. A YouTube photographer whose work I admire is Steve O'Nions who lives in Kelsall, Cheshire and does lots of interesting videos shooting landscapes in the region from up in the lake district on down to northern Wales.
I can usually spot a good photo opportunity and when I do I’ll take a picture. The first three were all the opportunities I’ve come across over the last year. So unfortunately I don’t get to see photogenic scenes like this every day. They’re few and far between.
I think the camera isn't 1080. Not even 720, either.
I'm not sure, but I think it's not 10-bit HDR either. Mat, can you confirm?
And to think, my first camera was a plastic little box that used 127 b&w film. I think it cost me $1 plus 3 ice cream wrappers. No joke. The first role of film cost much more.
...and then the developing more again. We're the last generation who might have one or two pictures per year at most of themselves as a child.
The image quality on that toy camera is giving me flashbacks of the very first digital camera I bought, a 2 megapixel Vivitar model, back in the mid-2000's. Its pictures had a similar washed out, pastel-like look to them - one might even say an "artistic" charm. But the novelty wore off quickly. So it's amusing now to see you demonstrating a camera that hearkens back to my primitive Vivitar, and to the early days of digital photography in general. I know it's meant to be just a fun thing for children, but it's still kind of scraping the bottom of the barrel. "Hey, kids, now you can snap low quality digital photos just like your dad's dad used to!"
Originally they were using sensors that would have also been used for video cameras. So weren't really up to the job. The image that you get on your phone probably wouldn't look much good without all the processing.
I'd be curious to see if the bt dithering printer can print the poor images of the camera at even better quality (or at least not blown out highlights). Which obviously is way too complicated a workflow, but why else do you now have two? :P
If I get time I’ll test this out later and let you know the results.
Here in Thailand, the PeriPage is mostly uses as a shipping label printer. I have seen it advertised for those purpose numerous times. As for the pink camera, if it came out when I was a young lad it would probably be one of my favorite toys.
Yes if I could have got my sticky paper to work I'd have shown the label printer part of the app. I think though that if I were label printing regularly I'd use one of the Brother printers that I could wireless print to from my laptop to output one of the pre-paid postage labels generated by the postage website.
With all of these printers you've got, maybe you could make some gag Patreon rewards, like vintage hospital thermal printer photos of the muppets.
The only issue with physical rewards is posting them all over the world. I barely have enough time to get a completed video out each week. Otherwise I'd be up for it.
I also prefer the dithered effect. The grayscale prints seem more prone to banding which doesn't look pleasing, IMO.
You get a shadow above a strong dark area repeated in lighter areas where the 'print head' hasn't cooled enough. It's sometimes noticeable on the Sony printer too if you look for it.
Did you know that there is colored thermal paper? Stil monochrome, but instead of turning black when heated it turns blue or red for example: https://paperangprint.com/collections/paperang-paper/products/paperang-blue-paper https://paperangprint.com/collections/paperang-paper/products/paperang-red-paper There is also a semi-transparent sticker version: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000844599556.html
I adore the dithered effect you get from the first printer, it would look great printing off old 80s and 90s anime stills
9:56 Llangollen FTW!!!! Awesome train!
I basically immediately went and bought one of those little Peripage printers before I'd even finished watching the episode. Came out to about $70 AUD with rolls of white, sticker and pastel coloured rolls of paper. I think it will be fun for me, my nieces and practically for labeling.
That was fun! And "Mat on tat" is really clever. I noticed you pasted the first line of the FAQ into the description box twice.
Thanks - I've fixed that now.
The little bluetooth one would be great if you could get thermal sticker rolls, but I'm not sure that's a thing. Personally I'm a big fan of Brother (proper) thermal printers and label printers, despite their software being almost universally rubbish, but I doubt they'll make a fun-size smartphone printer any time soon!
Thermal sticker rolls are indeed a thing: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005001901048109.html
Now you know why the professional thermal printer is that more expensive ;-)
And a good weekend to you too Mat!