Page Yield of Printer Cartridges

Page yield is the number of pages that you can print with a printer cartridge. It is also known as cartridge yield. Page yield is one of the factors you should consider when purchasing a printer cartridge because it gives you an estimate of the cost per page for a given cartridge.

Page yield is affected by many things and the test result is variable depending on different testing methods. Therefore, a standardized method is necessary for a meaningful comparison. The ISO standard is the most reliable method to test page yield / cartridge yield as it allows the consumers to compare "apples to apples" in an objective way.

ISO has established two standard testing methods, ISO/IEC 24711 and ISO/IEC 19752 for measuring the page yield of inkjet cartridges and monochrome toner cartridges respectively. In both methods, the printer cartridges are tested using default setting on plain paper. Standard test documents representing approximately 5% coverage are printed almost continuously with normal breaks for adding paper. The printing job stops when the cartridge reaches its end of life, which is indicated by a signal that the ink or toner has been depleted. To reduce the error due to individual printer variations, a total of 9 cartridges are tested on 3 different printers (i.e. 3 cartridges per printer) and the average yield is measured. The tests are done under controlled environmental conditions with temperature and humidity similar to ambient conditions in homes and offices.

As you can see, page yield testing is conducted under strict standard conditions. If you are shopping for discount ink / toner cartridges, don't just look at the price of the printer cartridge, compare the page yield as well and estimate the cost per page of different types of cartridges. This should give you a better picture if you are getting a real bargain.

Note: the number of pages you can print with a printer cartridge depends on the content or image you print, printer settings, paper size, paper type, frequency of use, the interval between printing jobs, and environmental conditions. Consumers are advised to use the page yield value as a reference only.

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