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September 1996
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A High Five for the Latest LaserJet
/ PCL Turns 6
Each new LaserJet generation has had its own new version of HP's Printer Control Language (PCL), which has become a de facto industry standard. As PCL matured, it got new, enhanced capabilities, such as macros, scalable fonts, complex vector graphics, and color. However, PCL 5 required the printer driver to decompose high-level graphics commands, which consumed CPU time and compl
icated programming. The driver then shipped the resulting large streams of data to the printer, creating unnecessary network traffic, long spool times, and a long return-to-application time.
PCL 6 repartitions the processing burden using a new interface that's closely aligned with Windows Gra
phical Device Interface (GDI) calls. The computer spends less time translating GDI calls, so an application should regain control more quickly after printing. Also, the compact PCL 6 commands should improve network throughput. Because PCL 6 mirrors GDI so closely, what you get on paper is much more like what you see on-screen.
PCL 6 can also synthesize fonts from a library of 355 glyphs, which the printer combines into a particular font on demand following special instructions stored as a font description. The end result is an auto-hinted TrueType outline that the printer rasterizes. Using Font Synthesis frees up approximately 850 KB of printer memory.
illustration_link (18 Kbytes)
*OS/2 process is similar.
Matthew Wilson more...
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PCL Turns 6
