Letter-quality printer

A letter-quality printer was a form of computer impact printer that was able to print with the quality typically expected from a business typewriter such as an IBM Selectric.

A letter-quality printer operates in much the same fashion as a typewriter. A metal or plastic printwheel embossed with letters, numbers, or symbols strikes an inked ribbon, depositing the ink (or carbon, if an expensive single-strike ribbon was installed) on the page and thus printing a character.