82162a printer line spacing

[Vincent Weber]

Hi all,

The author of free42 HP-IL extension wrote that PRLCD command does not work well because commands are translated into 82162a commands, and the 821262a line spacing does not allow smooth graphics. But I read somewhere else in this general forum that the 82162a allowed to control line spacing and possibily reduce it to zero, and that was an advantage over the previous 82143a printer. So who is right ? Any possible confusion with the 82240 printer than came next ?

Thanks a lot and regards,

Vincent

[dayd]

hi,
don't know as such ability on the 82162A; you'll find an attachment here with 2 images of standard output from the 41CX to the 82162A and 82240B. The spacing is one single dot on the infrared printer.

[Vincent Weber]

Interesting, many thanks !
So why did some people (Eric Smith and Thomas Okken) wrote about the 82162a controlling the line gap ? Maybe they confused it with the IR printer ?
Cf. the following threads:

http://www.hpmuseum.org/cgi-sys/cgiwrap/...read=86122
http://www.hpmuseum.org/cgi-sys/cgiwrap/...read=68911

It seems to me that the graphics difference between the 143 and the 182 are only about the larger print buffer, to allow barcode printing, which has nothing to do with the line spacing...

Btw even the short buffer of the 143 allows nice plotting, see the remarkable "high resolution plot" program from the PPC rom. I don't think the larger buffer would improve it. Only maybe if you try to print 8 to 9 curves at the same time - which is quite insane for this kind of small printer. Definitely the 7470a plotter would be the way to go instead ! Still very slow though

Cheers

[Thomas Okken]

(11-06-2016 09:47 AM)Vincent Weber Wrote:  So why did some people (Eric Smith and Thomas Okken) wrote about the 82162a controlling the line gap ?

I believe I read that somewhere and then foolishly repeated it without even trying to verify it. I don't remember for sure, but I suspect the "Nantucket" picture in HP Key Notes was the main contributing factor to this misunderstanding:
http://www.hpmuseum.net/pdf/KeyNotes_198...es_OCR.pdf (page 9), http://www.hpmuseum.net/pdf/KeyNotes_198...es_OCR.pdf (page 3), and http://www.hpmuseum.net/pdf/Keynotes_198...es_OCR.pdf (page 4).

Note this line in particular, from V6N3: "it nicely illustrates the expanded graphics of the HP 82162A Thermal Printer." Turns out that that was referring to the larger buffer, which made it possible to print bit-mapped graphics across the entire width of the printable area... but it was *not* about the ability to control line spacing, as finally revealed in V7N1.

It didn't help that HP Key Notes was in its death throes by then and the wait between issues had become somewhat agonizing!

[Vincent Weber]

Thanks a lot Thomas ! I did not have the conclusion. But it is actually very hard to I understand, does he mean that he cut paper into little pieces to get the smooth graphics with no gaps between lines ?
You have to be crazy to do such things, if this is the added value for graphics offered by the larger buffer of the 162,i fully understand why people would stick with the 143
Cheers

[Thomas Okken]

He fed the paper through the printer twice. :-)