alexis@ccnysci.UUCP (Alexis Rosen) (11/16/88)
In the recent summary of laser printer information, one response caught my eye: >From: optilink!cramer@kontron (Clayton Cramer) > >I have experience with the Apple LaserWriter IIntx, and it seems to work >quite well. The print isn't quite as dark as it was on the original >LaserWriter Plus, but it does OK. Keep in mind that if you will printing >any significant amount of graphics that cover a lot of area, the write >white engine of the LaserWriter IIntx won't do a great job -- the blacks >won't be black. Some of the other PostScript printers out there have >write black engines, and do a much better job for this sort of thing -- >the AST TurboLaser/PS for example -- but a good many of the ASTs have >a problem with "bearding" characters, perhaps because of an adjustment >problem. This is really ridiculous. For starters, the NTX uses the Canon SX engine, which (like the previous Canon CX engine) is a write-black engine. Worse, there is an assumption here that write-white engines produce bad blacks, when in fact they will generally produce much _better_ blacks than W-B engines. Thus the AST printer (which has the same engine that the NTX uses) does NOT produce better blacks. There are some W-W engines out there, and they do produce the best blacks. I think that Ricoh engines are W-W (but don't quote me). At any rate, the new SX engine generally produces much better blacks than the old CX engine, to the point where it is usually acceptable even for large black areas. So basically, believe the opposite of everything in that note, and you'll be fine. ---- Alexis Rosen alexis@dasys1.UUCP or alexis@ccnysci.UUCP Writing from {allegra,philabs,cmcl2}!phri\ The Big Electric Cat uunet!dasys1!alexis Public UNIX {portal,well,sun}!hoptoad/
joel@arizona.edu (Joel Snyder) (11/17/88)
Alexis Rosen writes about write-white vs. write-black engines. Although I don't have enough direct experience with the Ricoh to really judge whether he's write or not, (whoops...RIGHT or not) I can say that either of the Apple LaserWriters produce better output than the Toshiba 26 ppm write-white engine, when it comes to big black areas. The LaserWriters tend to be much darker, but spotty. The spottiness goes away when you shake the toner cartridge (at least at our site it does). The Toshiba is not nearly as dark, but is always even all the way through, barring scratches or other miscellaneous debris on the drum. So, my point is that it is NOT true that write-white engines are better or worse than write-black engines, but it IS true that some engines are better than other engines, particularly in printing large black areas. jms
alexis@ccnysci.UUCP (Alexis Rosen) (11/18/88)
In article <7926@megaron.arizona.edu> jms@mis.arizona.edu (Joel Snyder) writes: >Alexis Rosen writes about write-white vs. write-black engines. >[...] I can say that either of the Apple LaserWriters produce better >output than the Toshiba 26 ppm write-white engine, when it comes >to big black areas. The LaserWriters tend to be much darker, >but spotty. The spottiness goes away when you shake the toner >cartridge (at least at our site it does). The Toshiba is not nearly >as dark, but is always even all the way through, barring scratches >or other miscellaneous debris on the drum. So, my point is >that it is NOT true that write-white engines are better or worse >than write-black engines, but it IS true that some engines are >better than other engines, particularly in printing large black >areas. Well... Your Toshiba may be running out of toner :-) Seriously, I didn't say that one was better than the other. Of course all engines are created UNequal, and it is possible (even easy) to build an engine of one type that is in all respects worse than some engine of the other type. But there are two rules of thumb that are _usualy_ applicable: 1) Since write-black engines are effectively painting black onto a white background, they will be more likely to exhibit streaking over large areas of black. 2) Since write-white engines paint white onto a black background, they are more prone to leaving the insides of very small closed outlines (like the closed loop at the bottom of a six-point letter 'a') filled in. Don't post about how _your_ printer isn't like that... These are only generalities... Also, be aware that the state of your toner cartridge can have overwhelming effect on the quality of your output. ---- Alexis Rosen alexis@dasys1.UUCP or alexis@ccnysci.UUCP Writing from {allegra,philabs,cmcl2}!phri\ The Big Electric Cat uunet!dasys1!alexis Public UNIX {portal,well,sun}!hoptoad/