Why do printers need more memory?

[Mark F]

What is the use of additional memory inside of a printer?

I just installed an OKI C3400n printer on my network.

I noticed that it has 32MB of memory and the manual says
"Additional memory, to allow printing of more complex pages"
is available.

Will a page either print or run out of memory, or
is it possible for some pages printing will slow
down but still succeed?

Does anyone know of a way of making pages that are
complex as far as the OKI C3400n is concerned?

I don't think fonts are stored in the printer,
in which case fonts will not take space.

I can't tell the watermark, if present, is stored in
the printer, but I don't think that they can be very big
compared to 32MB.

This leaves the page image itself. If I make a random
color image that is the size of the printing area of the
largest possible paper, 8.5 inches by 1200 mm (about 47.24 inches),
this use the maximum memory? If not, what do I need to do
to make a more "complex" page?

(Only had it for 1/2 day: easy to install, prints nice,
reasonably fast printing but power on to print ready is
long. Buy another printer for replacement parts except for
the 4 cartridges. NOT a 35000 page/month printer unless 2
overhauls per month is your idea of what is part of a
design duty cycle.)

 

[William R. Walsh]

Hi!

What is the use of additional memory inside of a printer?

I noticed that it has 32MB of memory and the manual says
"Additional memory, to allow printing of more complex pages"
is available.

That's pretty much it. A laser printer has to render a whole page at a time,
instead of printing line by line. If a page has many elements that require a
large amount of formatting instruction to draw, the printer could run out of
memory.

Will a page either print or run out of memory, or
is it possible for some pages printing will slow
down but still succeed?

This depends upon the printer. Some handle it much more gracefully than
others. Some printers will try to print the rest of the page, and probably
will manage to do so, although things that should have printed may be
missing. Other printers will simply print or display an error page that
gives an explanation or cryptic error codes. There are a few printers out
there that will also become confused and start printing corrupted garbage.
My old LaserJet III would do both 2 and 3.

If printing slows down, the printer's onboard processor or method of
communication is probably the limiting factor, not memory. Because of this,
you may find that the printer may simply be unable to make use of additional
memory.

Does anyone know of a way of making pages that are
complex as far as the OKI C3400n is concerned?

It's hard to say. Pages with many highly detailed graphical elements would
be a start. However, all printers use and manage their memory differently.
More intelligent printers and their drivers may use the memory for many
different things, including the temporary download of fonts used in whatever
you happened to print or for temporary job storage (such as PIN-controlled
printing, where a person must enter a code before the printer will print the
stored document). Simpler printers may not do all this, and will simply
store the processed results coming from the computer until enough has
arrived to print a single page.

Data compression also can factor into this. Some printers do attempt to
compress bitmaps and images to save memory space.

Printing in PostScript (if supported by your printer) may produce a large
print job that requires considerable memory and processing power.

I don't think fonts are stored in the printer,
in which case fonts will not take space.

Some fonts will be stored in your printer. These will not take up RAM space
in all likelihood...they will resident in the printer's ROM/control program
area. Other fonts may be downloaded as so-called "soft" fonts so that the
printer can reference and draw them directly.

I can't tell the watermark, if present, is stored in
the printer, but I don't think that they can be very big
compared to 32MB.

Watermarks are most likely not stored in the printer permanently.

William

 

[jasee]

Hi!



That's pretty much it. A laser printer has to render a whole page at
a time, instead of printing line by line. If a page has many elements
that require a large amount of formatting instruction to draw, the
printer could run out of memory.

Yes, create a graphic say 1200dpi 24bit resolution size 8"x11" should give
you a file size 362.5 Mbytes. Cut and paste some images into it. Save as a
bmp then print. This takes about three and a half minutes to print (after
spooling is complete) on my printer with 5.58megabytes of 'usable memory'.
Be sure you select maximum resolution on your printer (maybe 1200dpi) but
note actual screening may be as low as 150lines per inch.
Interested things are (provided you select maximum resolution on the
printer) the spooled size is the same whether the file is postcript 20megs
or maximum compression jpeg 2.47megs. Though obvious enough if you think
about it.

It's hard to say. Pages with many highly detailed graphical elements
would be a start. However, all printers use and manage their memory
differently. More intelligent printers and their drivers may use the
memory for many different things, including the temporary download of
fonts used in whatever you happened to print or for temporary job
storage (such as PIN-controlled printing, where a person must enter a
code before the printer will print the stored document). Simpler
printers may not do all this, and will simply store the processed
results coming from the computer until enough has arrived to print a
single page.

Personally, I don't think it's a question of fonts nowadays, if my printer
can handle this sort of size file, with only 5.58mbytes of memory then it
should have no problem with fonts downloaded or not.
Older printers were not so good at dealing with these large files and extra
memory was a necessity so that they could print.