Printronix L5035 user manual Appendix C Overview

Appendix C Overview

On mini or mainframe computers, printer performance problems can usually be solved by having the system administrator perform one or more of the following:

•assign a higher priority to the print spooler

•increase the size of the host’s output buffer

•dedicate a communication controller to the printer

Solving system performance problems with IBM-compatible PC’s varies depending upon the operating system (OS/2®, Windows®,or DOS®) and the speed and manufacturer of the PC. Performance problems with networked printers are best left to the expertise of the network administrator, since each element between the printer and the host computer can affect performance.

There will be cases where the desired printout is sufficiently complex to exceed the bandwidth of the controller. This will be evident if the printer is exerting the communication flow control for extended periods of time followed by a printer pause. Assuming that the software application has already been tuned for efficiency, under these circumstances, do the following:

1.Check to see if the minimum amount of memory is installed (see Appendix B, “Specifications”).

2.Try changing the font cache memory allocation based upon the size of characters being sent. See the “Maximum Cached Characters” topic on page 103 for details.

3.Set the Image Width configuration menu parameter to the minimum width required for the print job.

4.Try to minimize the number of font changes per page.

5.Try to decrease the printing resolution (400 DPI to 300 DPI, or 300 DPI to 240 DPI).

6.Decrease the complexity and/or number of characters in the printed output.

For application efficiency in IGP/PGL or IGP/VGL, it is best to store a form in the printer and then execute it with dynamic data, rather than send the entire form each time.

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