User`s manual
Section
3
Type
of
Printer Driver
The driver
names
begin with
the
abbreviation, "HQ",
"MG"
or "Simple".
"HQ"
stands
for
"high
quality"
which
indicates that the driver works
with
the interpolation
procedure.
We
recommend installing this kind
of
driver as
it produces
the
best printout
"MG"
stands
for
"mega"
and indicates a
high
resolution printout
which
is
not interpolated and tends to be a bit crude.
In
some cases, this can
be
useful.
"Simple" stands for just
that
These drivers are only available for 9 pin
printers
and
the
printout is
the
standard
low
resolution. They are the fastest,
however, sailing over a line just
one
time, and are useful whenever a fast
printout
is
needed.
Number
of
Pins
The number of pins which the driver supports directly follows the driver
type.
Use
only 9
pin
drivers for 9
pin
printers and
24
pin drivers for
24
pin
printers. It
is
possible to
use
a 9 pin driver for a
24
pin printer, but
printouts
in
graphic
mode
(high)
will
appear 'stretched' across the page.
No
problems occur in the text
mode,
so geoCalc users
may
use
such a driver
since
geoCalc
does
not presently
work
with
24
pin
printer drivers.
Degree
of
Print Quality
Following the printer type abbreviation and number of pins is the degree
of
print
quality.
"low"
indicates
the
lowest degree of print quality
which
can still give
good
results. This
is
also the fastest of
the
HQ
type drivers. 9 pin printers print
each line twice, reaching a resolution
of
240 x
144
dots per inch (dpi).
24
pin printers print each line only once, reaching
180
x 180 dpi.
24
pin
printers also
have
a
"low+"
and
"low"'"
resolution.
"low+"
prints a reduced
360
x
180
dpi
and "low"''' an expanded
360
x
180
dpi. With these drivers it
is possible to get the best results
from
the older Epson
24
pin printers
in
addition
to
working
with all other
24
pin
printers.
"med"
indicates a
medium
degree of quality giving
very
good results. 9
pin
printers print
each
line
three
times and reach 240 x 216 dpi.
24
pin printers
use
two
passes
to
reach a resolution
of
360 x 360 dpi. Older Epson
24
pin
printers and all LQ-400 models are
not
compatible with "med" drivers,
therefore
use
the
"low+"
or
"low"'"
drivers described
above.
The same can be
said for
very
old Star 9 pin printers (like Star SG-lO). Use the "low+"
drivers
for
these
to
attain 240 x
144
dpi
with
four passes over a line.
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