The cartridge concept is used in various ways. It may be an interchangeable element that has what a machine needs to function. This type of cartridge usually wears out with use, a peculiarity that requires replacing it every certain amount of time with another of the same type.
Many printers use ink cartridges to function. These are the pieces that contain, precisely, the ink that is used to print on the paper . It is usually possible to differentiate between black ink cartridges and color cartridges .
Suppose a person wants to print the photographs they took while on vacation. If you have an inkjet printer, you will need a color cartridge. Those who only want to print text documents, on the other hand, may be able to satisfy that need with a black ink cartridge.
As happens in all areas of the industry, the market offers us several brands of printers, each with its various models and, perhaps most importantly, with a particular way of treating the organization of the cartridges that can have a considerable impact on the consumer's pocket. For example, some printers require the user to have ink in all cartridges to make any print, regardless of whether the document in question requires those colors.
Typically, these printer models use four cartridges, which contain ink in the following colors: black, yellow, magenta (a dark red that resembles purple), and cyan (a greenish blue). If, for example, the yellow ink cartridge has been emptied (that is, it has reached the level that the machine considers unnecessary for a job), it does not matter if we try to print a document in black: if the printer's operating mode is As mentioned in the previous paragraph, we will be forced to replace the yellow one to continue using it.
In the field of computing, the removable element that functions as a memory with read-only information is also called a cartridge. Cartridges were used by video game consoles to load the software that contained each game. The Sega MegaDrive and Nintendo Game Boy consoles, among many others, used cartridges.
For a few years, video game companies opted for optical storage media, such as CDs, DVDs and Blu-rays, or variants thereof created specifically to meet the needs of each console. However, Nintendo's portable consoles (its most recent are the DS and 3DS) have always used cartridges to store their games and, in 2017, the Nintendo Switch was released, the first hybrid console from this Japanese company that, After three generations, he once again opted for the cartridge.
In the “war” between optical media and cartridges there is no definitive winner, as each has advantages and disadvantages. Broadly speaking, we can say that the cartridges offer much higher reading speeds and total absence of noise, but at a much higher cost; Blu-rays, for their part, have larger storage capacities at a more affordable price but require a reading mechanism that is noisy and more prone to failures, in addition to generating more heat.
Many firearms , for their part, use cartridges: the group made up of the gunpowder, the bullet and the case along with the percussion cap. The cartridges have a variable size, since they are inserted into the chamber of the weapon. When the cartridge does not contain the bullet, it is called a blank cartridge .
Cartridge, finally, is the common name given to plants such as Zantedeschia aethiopica and Arum italicum .