The company’s latest blog explains how page yield is measured and the methods involved in the process.
As Print-Rite explains, initially “there was no clear standard to determine the page yield of inkjet and toner cartridges”, with some manufacturers of both printers and cartridges merely assuming “an average of 5 percent coverage on an A4 sheet.” They would use all the ink in the cartridge and then count the number of pages printed. Print-Rite likens this method to the comparison of “apples to oranges”, and explained that, as other manufacturers used their own methods, this “led to even more confusion.”
However, in June 2004, an ISO standard was published which was designed to “determine the number of pages printed with a black toner cartridge”, and this was “embraced” by both manufacturers of printers, and producers of aftermarket toner cartridges. To date, it remains the standard by which page yield is measured. Similar standards for inkjet and colour cartridges have also been introduced subsequently.
To ensure accuracy, these ISO standards include instructions on how page yield is to be tested, including the conditions, such as temperature and humidity, the size of the paper that is used in the process, the size of the test, the test document, and “even how often you should shake the cartridge when it is nearly empty.”
When testing, at least 3 different printers with at least 3 cartridges each should be used, and they should “be purchased on the open market from three different vendors”, rather than direct from the supplier.
