laser printer An electrophotographic printer in which a laser is used as the light source; the laser beam is modulated to produce the image. The term is also often used to refer to page printers of this type that use LEDs or LCDs as the active element. This type of printer is now very widely used as an office printer, frequently shared among a number of users. Most laser printers use single sheets of paper or transparent media and provide media-handling facilities; some can handle more than 15 pages per minute. Laser printers produce a very high standard of print. The higher-end range of laser printers now offers resolutions of greater than 600 dots per inch. Prices have now fallen to a level where the cheaper models are affordable even on single workstations. Color laser printers are also available.

la·ser print·er • n. a printer linked to a computer producing good-quality printed material by using a laser to form a pattern of electrostatically charged dots on a light-sensitive drum, which attract toner (or dry ink powder). The toner is transferred to a piece of paper and fixed by a heating process.