Kyocera 2160 - page 69

Megahertz (MHz): See Controller.

Native resolution: The print resolution level at which

anoffice machine is capable of functioning without the

assistance of software interpolation. Sometimes referred

to as “true resolution.” See also Interpolation,

Resolution.

Network card: Also known as an “Ethernet card” or an

NIC (Network Interface Card), it’s the board that’s

installed into a slot in certain printers that allows them to

be connected to a computer network. See also Ethernet.

Paper capacity: The amount of paper held in a

machine’s paper tray(s).

Paper drawer/tray:We tend to use the words “drawer”

and “tray” interchangeably when talking about paper

supplies. Some vendors use the term “tray” to describe a

replaceable unit that can be slipped into a drawer,such as

one containing special paper.

Parallel port: Acommon method of connecting a

printer to a PC for the purpose of printing or scanning.

See also USB.

PCL: Printer industry language developed by Hewlett-

Packard and used on a large number of printers. The

printer language determines the way the printer receives

instructions from the computer software. The latest level

of PCL, PCL 6, is available on most of the machines cov-

ered in this guide, where it usually comes paired with

PCL 5e.

PDF (Portable Document Format): File format that

allows users to capture all of a document’s visual ele-

ments as an electronic image you can view, print, or

archive on any computer. PDF was created by Adobe

Systems, which supplies tools including a free program

(Acrobat Reader) for reading the files. The advantage of

PDF is that files are small yet retain the appearance of

the original image and are platform-independent. A num-

ber of printers allow you to print PDF files directly with-

out opening them up in Acrobat.

Photo card: Adigital memory card that is used to store

digital photos. A growing number of color printers have

card readers that allow you to print pages from such a

card. There are a variety of photo card formats from dif-

ferent vendors (sadly, there’s no standard). Most photo

card readers will handle a variety of formats.

PictBridge: Astandardized technology developed by

the Camera & Imaging Products Association for direct

printing from a digital camera to a color printer. A com-

mon feature among ink jet color machines, PictBridge is

becoming more popular on color laser machines.

PMS (Pantone Matching System): The established

industry standard for accurate color reproduction. It’s a

numbering system that defines about 750 shades of color

published in Pantone, Inc.’s color swatches. Pantone

licenses these colors to color printer manufacturers,effec-

tively endorsing their products as being able to faithfully

reproduce PMS colors.

Port: See Interface.

Portable Document Format: See PDF.

PostScript: PostScript is a printer language created by

Adobe Systems. When you use PostScript,your comput-

er sends a description of the page to be printed to the

printer, which in turn interprets the data and outputs the

page. This contrasts with the PCL approach, under

which the computer sends a series of commands to the

printer rather than an overall page description.PostScript

works across different computer platforms — it’s not

Windows-specific — and it’sparticularly well suited for

high-resolution graphics. All current PostScript printers

use the latest version: PostScript 3. See also PCL.

ppm: Pages per minute.It is the measure of a machine’s

engine speed when making letter-size prints or copies. See

also Engine speed.

Print engine speed: See Engine speed.

Print memory: Print memory is usually expressed in

megabytes (MB). All other things being equal, the greater

amachine’sprint memory,the greater its capacity to han-

dle complicated jobs involving large electronic files.Note

thatin manymodels,print memory is shared with the fax

machine.

Printer driver: The software that permits your desktop

computer to “talk” to the printer. The printer driver usu-

ally comes on a CD-ROM that you must load into your

computer. (Some vendors will also let you download

drivers from the Internet.) You see the driver on your

screen as one or more dialog boxes that allow you to

choose print options such as the number of prints

desired, collation, and image size and orientation.

Processor: See Controller.

Resolution: Electronic images are formed out of tiny

Better Buys for Business

The $279 (street) Ricoh GX3050N GelSprinter prints at

29ppm using waterproof color ink.