SATO M-8400RV manual Introduction, Compatibility

SECTION 1.

PRINTER OVERVIEW

INTRODUCTION

The SATO M-8400RV Thermal Transfer Printer is a complete, high-performance on-site labeling systems. All printer parameters are user programmable using the front panel controls and the DIP switches. All popular bar codes and 12 human-readable fonts, including a vector font, are resident in memory providing literally thousands of type styles and sizes.

The Operator’s Manual will help you understand the basic operations of the printer such as setup, installation, configuration, cleaning and maintenance.

The M-8400RV has a resolution of 203 dpi and can print labels up to four inches wide.

The M-8400RV uses the standard SATO RISC printer command codes. The only differences between it and other RISC printers are the allowable values representing the print positions on the label. These values are specified in “dots” and will vary depending upon the resolution of the printer and the amount of memory available for imaging the label. The allowable range for the M-8400RV is specified in a table for those command codes.

This commonality makes it very easy to convert labels from one RISC printer to another without having to create an entirely different command stream. There are some caveats that must be observed though to compensate for the different resolution print heads. The effect of the different printer resolutions are best illustrated by taking a label designed for a 203 dpi printer and sending the command stream to the its 305 dpi counterpart. The label printed will be an exact two-thirds scale, including the fonts, bar code dimensions and line lengths/widths. The only exception is the PostNet bar code which has only one legal size and the printer resolution is automatically compensated for by the printer. Conversely, a label designed for a 305 dpi printer and sent to its 203 dpi cousin will be one-third larger. It probably will be “truncated” if the label size is larger than the maximum allowable for the printer.

The following general information is presented in this section:

∙Compatibility Information

∙General Printer Specifications

∙Optional Accessories

COMPATIBILITY

The M-8400RV was designed to be compatible with the standard M-8400. If all of the rules for command usage were followed when designing labels for an M-8400, then the same command stream should create the same label on an M-8400RV. However, the older M-8400 was more lenient in allowing the user to “bend” the rules, especially in the area of the allowable sequence of commands. Because the thruput of

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