In June 1997 Tektronix® released the Phaser® 560, the first printer of its class to officially sanction manual two-sided printing. The 560 was Tektronix's fourth product based on the Matsushita® design, which was the first full-color laser printers based on a monocomponent imaging system, offering superior print quality over dual-component imaging systems. Although the 560 was physically identical to its predecessors, the Phaser 540 and 550 series, internally the 560 was almost completely redesigned, making its imaging system incompatible with the previous machines.
In October 1998 Tektronix introduced the Phaser 740, as a fully-functional color laser printer. The new line replaced the 560 series, and it was positioned as a general-purpose printer for both color and monochrome, at half the price of the Phaser 560. May 2000 saw the release of the Phaser 750, the sixth product to utilize the evolving Matsushita design. Nearly identical to the 740, the 750 offered no new technology. It did, however, come with a few minor modifications. For example, a new controller, faster microprocessor, a user-serviceable paper transport unit, and a paper calibration feature.
The most significant change was a new set of toners, which offered improved reliability, a more consistent toner particle size and lower costs. The toners were housed in cartridges that looked the same as those of the earlier Phaser models, but the new cartridges had been keyed, making them incompatible with either the 560 or the 740. High-yield toner cartridges offered 50% greater yield than the standard cartridges, and were available for all four color toners.
The supplies set has nine consumables, which includes the four toner cartridges, a transfer unit (transfer roller and waste toner receptacle), an imaging unit (OPC and a transfer belt), a fuser assembly (fuser roller and charge grid, or corona wire).