High resistivity materials have been investigated as the resistor element in thermal inkjet printheads. The motivation to replace the well-known TaAl or Ta-N resistors is convincing. With higher-value resistors, parasitic losses can be reduced significantly, improving the head efficiency and lowering die temperatures. Further, lower current and higher voltages lead to simpler circuits and permit lower cost power supplies. To reap these benefits, several candidate materials have been investigated with a resistivity typically an order of magnitude or higher than TaAl and Ta-N (∼250 micro-ohm cm). The motivation, material investigation strategy, electrical properties, structural properties, testing results, and thermal modeling will be discussed.