HP 5961-0509 manual Performance, Print Data, Print Overrun, Protection, 24-10Programming Hints

Performance

PCL Commands

Since PCL printers are command driven devices and each command takes a finite amount of time to process, pages composed of a large number of commands may not print at maximum speed. Most commands can be used frequently on a page without adversely affecting the printer’s performance; however, certain commands take more time to process and therefore, if used frequently on a page, may decrease printer performance. An excessive number of font selections per page (selection using font characteristic commands or selection by ID number) may decrease printer performance.

Print Data

There is a limit on the amount of data, as well as the number of commands, that the printer can process per page at maximum speed.

Print Overrun

As data is received by the printer, it is processed and stored in an intermediate format. The intermediate data is later processed and printed. During the physical printing of a page, the page moves through the printer at a constant speed. Thus, some pages cannot be printed because the page’s intermediate data cannot be processed fast enough to keep up with the physical speed of the page as it moves through the printer. When this condition occurs,

an error number ‘‘21’’ERROR( 21 - print overrun) is displayed on the printer’s control panel. A page causing this error can be printed by setting the printer’s page protection feature to ON (see next section).

Page Protection

If enabled, page protection reserves an amount of memory for the page image process, allowing the printer to create the entire page image (in memory) before physically moving the paper through the printer.

24-10Programming Hints EN