Photosmart 7960 - Auto Paper Type Detection

[Aloke Prasad]

How does it work?

How can the printer tell which type of paper I'm using (plain, inkjet,
glossy etc.)?

 

[Bob Headrick]

How does it work?

How can the printer tell which type of paper I'm using (plain, inkjet, glossy
etc.)?

You will notice at the beginning of the print jab a LED will illuminate the
paper a bit. There are some sensors that look at the reflections from the
paper. The processor in the printer does some calculations to match the
signature to known paper types.

Regards,
Bob Headrick, not speaking for my employer HP

 

[John Smith]

Bob if using Non-HP Photopaper will it make a better decision than a manual
choice...
I use the 7660 btw.

John

 

[Aloke Prasad]

You will notice at the beginning of the print jab a LED will illuminate
the paper a bit. There are some sensors that look at the reflections from
the paper. The processor in the printer does some calculations to match
the signature to known paper types.

Cool!

Does the printer choose the settings corresponding to one of the (nearest)
pre-defined paper types? or does it tune the setting even more finely,
depending on the LED readings?

Do you recommend using the Auto or manually setting the paper type?

 

[John Smith]

I use Manual I use a lot of diff Photpapers so tune myself
Wonder if Auto is BETTER no it would go for a prefixed defined Paper type
its not inf. variable I dont think

 

[Aloke Prasad]

Bob can tell us for sure.

In addition to reflectivity, the ink absorption characteristics are also
important. I wonder how the reflected light from the LED measures the "ink
drop spread" of the paper ...

 

[Bob Headrick]

Cool!

Does the printer choose the settings corresponding to one of the (nearest)
pre-defined paper types? or does it tune the setting even more finely,
depending on the LED readings?

Do you recommend using the Auto or manually setting the paper type?

It picks the best match for the pre-defined paper type. You may get better
results picking a particular paper type rather than having the printer select
it automatically. If you occasionally print photo's and are prone to forget to
set the printer to the correct paper settings then auto would be a good choice
for you. If you print a lot of photo's you may find the manual setting
slightly better. Printing on photo paper with the driver selecting plain paper
gives rather poor results; the default automatic setting in the driver avoids
that issue.

Regards,
Bob Headrick, not speaking for my employer HP

 

[Bob Headrick]

Bob if using Non-HP Photopaper will it make a better decision than a manual
choice...
I use the 7660 btw.

It will probably pick a generic photo paper setting, which may or may not be a
good match to your particular paper. You may need to experiment a bit to get
the best results. Once you find the right "match" for your paper use that
setting in manual mode.

Regards,
Bob Headrick, not speaking for my employer HP

 

[Te]

Here's a question... I have printed many photo's on my 7660, which to me,
produces the best photo output of all the printers I sampled, which is why I
bought HP (again).

ANYWAY: I use a high gloss photo paper from a local vendor, which is
incredibly inexpensive vs. all the other competition, I'm paying about $1.00
for 20 sheets of 8.5x11. The results are incredible (imho). However, I'm
using the HP PREMIUM PHOTO PAPER, HIGH GLOSS setting in BEST mode. I've
tried "OTHER PHOTO PAPERS" mode, and I personally feel I don't get as good
results. Is there a serious difference between HP PAPER modes and the other
paper modes?

Thanks