Skip to main content
6 events
when toggle format what by license comment
Jun 15, 2019 at 15:45 comment added Jim Fischer (cont...) I imagine if one goes back many decades to a time when inexpensive embedded microprocessors didn't yet exist, the CPU probably played a much bigger role in managing the printer hardware, but that's a guess.
Jun 15, 2019 at 15:44 comment added Jim Fischer The device driver software on the PC communicates with the printer's onboard microcontroller or combinatorial logic. The driver software manages the communication link (the communication protocol) between the PC and the printer, and it monitors and manages the printer's state--e.g., monitoring ink/tonor levels--and other ancillary tasks that are not defined by the PCL specification (which IIRC primarily governs how information is rendered during a print job). (cont...)
Jun 15, 2019 at 3:52 vote accept Jack Oat
Jun 15, 2019 at 3:52 comment added Jack Oat For modern printers(running with PCL and similar language), I presume the software driver to drive the hardware should be running on the microprocessor installed within the printer. However, for older printers, they used to have the user install the software driver on the host computer. In this scenario, is it right to say that the PCL decoding to logic signals is first done on the computer(with driver installed on it) and subsequently, the decoded logic signals then pass on via USB or some cable to the microcontroller in the printer to actuate the hardwares?
Jun 15, 2019 at 3:49 comment added Jack Oat Thanks for your well-written explanation. Kudos!
Jun 14, 2019 at 7:57 history answered Jim Fischer CC BY-SA 4.0