Bar Code Formatting; Diagnostics; Printing Speed - Printronix P5000 Series Reference Manual

Chapter 1

Printing Speed

Bar Code Formatting

Several LG emulation control codes that allow you to define and print bar
codes are described in Chapter 4.

Diagnostics

The Setup Guide for these printers discusses the following diagnostic
features in more detail:
•
Built-in diagnostic self-tests
•
Configuration printout
•
Data stream hexadecimal code printout
Printing Speed
The speed at which text prints is measured in lines per minute (lpm). This
speed is inversely proportional to the number of dot rows required to produce
a character line, regardless of the number of characters in the line. More dot
rows are required to print lowercase characters with descenders;
consequently, those character lines print at a fractionally lower rate.
The DEC LG Emulation printer also prints dot-addressable graphic images.
The speed at which graphics are plotted is measured in inches per minute
(ipm). Unidirectional plotting produces slightly better print quality, and takes
about twice as long as bidirectional plotting. You can select either plotting
mode from the control panel.
Printing and plotting rates also vary according to the print quality you select.
Print quality refers to the way you instruct the printer to create characters. If,
for example, you select near letter quality (NLQ), the printer uses more dot
rows to form characters than if you choose high speed (HS) print quality.
Character formation and print speed are faster in HS because the printer uses
fewer dot rows to form characters. Vertical dot density is thus a factor in
printing speed. Nominal printing rates are charted in Appendix A of the Setup
Guide.
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