Computer Shopper Printer Tests
Introduction
To help readers understand the references we make in our printer reviews, we've compiled this document. It contains representations of all our tests. These do not represent the entire review process - they don’t tell you how feature-rich a printer's driver is nor how much it costs to run, for example - but they do give a good indication of a printer's worth.
Where a printer is available with multiple drivers (e.g. Postscript 3 and PCL6) it is tested with both and the most favourable results published.
On photo tests, we take an 'average user' approach. We judge a printer of what it can do using its driver's basic adjustments (e.g. between its 'draft', 'normal' and 'high-quality' modes). We do not go into advanced colour correction routines because the average user does not have the time, expertise or materials for extensive tinkering.
We time a test from the moment the application stops its part of the print process. We deliberately include the time taken to send the image to the printer because a driver that produces large print jobs will slow the print process.
Printers are, where possible, tested using a parallel interface. This gives us a common basis for comparison. Once all printers are available with USB interfaces we will move over to that.

Test	Purpose	
Envelopes	To see if the printer will feed and print on envelopes without a) jamming or b) crumpling the envelopes as they pass through it. This is a problem for many lasers because air is trapped in one end of the envelope as it is printed.
The paper is fed, where applicable, from the printer's manual feed tray.
The test is printed on DL envelopes in the driver's default mode. If it supports it, a suitable media type (e.g. 'envelope' or 'heavy') is selected.	
Block	To see how smoothly the printer can reproduce the transition from black to white. This has a significant impact on how well it can print graphics.
Printers are tested using plain paper with a variety of different driver settings. We try different resolutions, image enhancement techniques and, on colour printers, colour and monochrome modes.
Although it is a black and white image, colour printers typically use their colour mode to produce all graphic images because colour ink (on inkjets) and toner (on lasers) is finer than black ink or toner. This should deliver a less grainy image.
Forcing the printer to use its black mode may increase speed but reduce quality. 	
Black clipart	To pick up faults in printer drivers. Many printers used to lose the horizontal white lines in the middle of the 'skyline' image in the top left of the page (this was not due to ink bleed).
No printer has suffered from this fault in recent times so this test's relevance is  waning.
The test is printed on plain paper using the driver's default print mode.	
Grid	To check the head alignment on inkjet printers. Older inkjets with poor mechanical control would misalign some of the lines.
Modern printers have far better mechanical parts. Few printers have failed this test in recent times. Those that fail typically do so because they have poor cartridge alignment routines.
The test is printed on plain paper using the driver's default print mode.	

Grauert	To check mono print speed. The famous Dr Grauert's letter (a.k.a. ISO 10561) -- many people use this document to test cartridge or toner yield at 5% coverage. We use it as our mono speed test.
We print a ten page version of this document. This strikes a balance between testing the printer's speed once it's printing and the delay before the first page emerges (time to first print).
We have a fifty page version of this document that allows faster printers to shine. With the ten page  version, a fast laser printer takes longer to produce the first page than it does for the rest of the print job.
The test is printed on plain paper at the printer's fastest possible speed. If a printer's fastest speed results in very poor quality output -- the kind of document you wouldn't want anyone else to see -- we reduce speed until the quality improves.	
Composite	To test performance and quality when printing text and graphics. Intelligent inkjet drivers can distinguish between graphics and text and move rapidly through the text sections of the document and carefully through the image.
This test is printed on plain paper in the printer's highest plain-paper quality.	
Bleed	To test if inkjet inks bleed into each other. Ink bleed obviously ruins print quality and yellow and black ink is especially prone to bleeding. A curved border between the inks -- such as in the text in this test -- is problematic.
The test is printed on plain paper using the driver's default print mode. It is only run on inkjets.	
Colour clipart	To pick up faults in printer drivers. Many printers used to fill in the hollow atomic particles in the top-left image and the surface of the drum in the bottom-left image (this was not due to ink bleed).
No printer has suffered from this fault in recent times so this test's relevance is  waning.
The test is printed on plain paper using the driver's default print mode.	
Pennyfarthing	To test photographic reproduction quality. This image (opinions differ on whether it's actually ISO 400) was used by Epson as a print sample for several years.
Several areas are especially challenging for colour contrast: the colour chart itself and the orange and red fruit at the bottom-right of the image.
Other areas highlight any graininess that may be produced: the reflection on the decanter, the newspaper and the cutlery.
The test is printed on top quality paper suitable for the printer using the driver's highest quality print mode.	
Furniture	To test low-key graphics reproduction quality. There's a predominance of dark hues and subtle colour differences in the red couch part of the image. Some printers lose these differences.
The test is printed on top quality paper suitable for the printer using the driver's highest quality print mode.
This is a GATF (Graphic Arts Technical Foundation) image. As this is actually a copyrighted image, it's reproduced here for illustrative purposes in a low-resolution, reduced-size format.
To purchase the images yourself, contact the GATF at www.gatf.org. 	

Bridge	To test a printer's ability to reproduce easily remembered colours. Any viewer can remember what blue sky, green grass and white fences should look like.
The test is printed on top quality paper suitable for the printer using the driver's highest quality print mode.
This is a GATF (Graphic Arts Technical Foundation) image. As this is actually a copyrighted image, it's reproduced here for illustrative purposes in a low-resolution, reduced-size format.
To purchase the images yourself, contact the GATF at www.gatf.org.	
Kidpaint	To test a printer's ability to reproduce five different skin tones. The grey T-shirts are also useful for evaluating neutral grey balance.
The test is printed on top quality paper suitable for the printer using the driver's highest quality print mode.
This is a GATF (Graphic Arts Technical Foundation) image. As this is actually a copyrighted image, it's reproduced here for illustrative purposes in a low-resolution, reduced-size format.
To purchase the images yourself, contact the GATF at www.gatf.org.	
Wedding	To test high-key graphics reproduction quality. This image is dominated by light pastels, white and off-white. Some printers fail to differentiate one light tone from another.
The test is printed on top quality paper suitable for the printer using the driver's highest quality print mode.
This is a GATF (Graphic Arts Technical Foundation) image. As this is actually a copyrighted image, it's reproduced here for illustrative purposes in a low-resolution, reduced-size format.
To purchase the images yourself, contact the GATF at www.gatf.org.	
Fruit	To test a printer's colour gamut. This image contains a large number of bright, saturated colours. If a printer's colour gamut is narrow, some of the colours will be noticeably weak.
The test is printed on top quality paper suitable for the printer using the driver's highest quality print mode.
This is a GATF (Graphic Arts Technical Foundation) image. As this is actually a copyrighted image, it's reproduced here for illustrative purposes in a low-resolution, reduced-size format.
To purchase the images yourself, contact the GATF at www.gatf.org.	
Tailor	To test a printer's grey balance (accurate colour correction depends on proper grey balance)
The test is printed on top quality paper suitable for the printer using the driver's highest quality print mode.
This is a GATF (Graphic Arts Technical Foundation) image. As this is actually a copyrighted image, it's reproduced here for illustrative purposes in a low-resolution, reduced-size format.
To purchase the images yourself, contact the GATF at www.gatf.org.	

Woman	To test how well a printer differentiates between the skin tones on the face, chest and hands. Shadow makes each area slightly different. Maintaining detail in the dark hair is also a challenge.
The test is printed on top quality paper suitable for the printer using the driver's highest quality print mode.
This is a GATF (Graphic Arts Technical Foundation) image. As this is actually a copyrighted image, it's reproduced here for illustrative purposes in a low-resolution, reduced-size format.
To purchase the images yourself, contact the GATF at www.gatf.org.	
Epson web site	To test a printer's colour print speed. This page contains more colour than a manufacturer's typical colour test page. This means our colour performance results are always far lower than those quoted by manufacturers. However, we've stuck with this test because printing web pages is such a common occurrence.
The test is printed on plain paper at the printer's fastest possible colour speed. If a printer's fastest speed results in very poor quality output -- the kind of document you wouldn't want anyone else to see -- we reduce speed until the quality improves.	
Hewlett Packard web site	To test a printer's standard web printing capability. With this image (and the Epson web page), we test a printer's ability to print and enhance poor-quality pages. Without resorting to high-quality modes, we engage other techniques that either enhance the printer's speed or quality.
The test is printed on plain paper using the driver's default quality print mode with enhancement options (where available).	

You & Me
Here
There
Everywhere

		

					

					

					

					

					

					

					

					

					

					

					

					

Eilzustellung
Norddeutsche Farbenwerke KG
Herrn Dr. Grauert
Große Elbstraße 64
2000 Hamburg 4

Org.  III 5/37		H-A			4  34			22.04.75
17.04.75			Volkmann

Vordruckgestaltung für den allgemeinen Schrift-
verkehr, für das Bestell- und Rechnuugswesen          E i l t

Sehr geehrter Herr Dr. Grauert,

Sie Können das Schreiben der Briefe, Bestellungen, Rechnungen usw. sowie das Bearbeiten des Schriftguts rationalisieren, wenn die Vordrucke Ihres Unternehmens den folgenden Normen entsprechen:

	DIN 676 Geschäftsbrief; Vordrucke A4
	DIN 677 -; Vordrucke A5
	DIN 679 Geschäftspostkarte; Vordrucke A6

	DIN 4991 Vordrucke im Lieferantenverkehr; Rechnung
	DIN 4992 -; Bestellung (Auftrag)
	DIN 4993 -; Bestellungsannahme (Auftragsbestätigung)
	DIN 4994 -; Lieferschein/Lieferanzeige
	DIN 4998 Entwurfsblätter für Vordrucke

Diese Normen enthalten alle Einzelheiten für den sinnvollen und zweckmäßigen Aufdruck. Wenn dazu bei der Beschriftung genormter Vordrucke DIN 5008 “REGELN FÜR MASCHINENSCHREIBEN” beachtet wird, entstehen übersichtliche und werbewirksame Schriftstücke.

Die beigefügten 6 Mustervordrucke zeigen, daß das Beachten derNormen die künstlerische und werbewirksame Gestaltung der Vordrucke nicht ausschließt.

Da wir uns auf die Herstellung genormter Vordrucke spezialisiert haben, können wir besonders billig liefern. Eine Probestellung wird Sie und Ihre Geschäftsfreunde von den Vorteilen überzeugen.

Mit bester Empfehlung
NORAG Druckerei und Verlagshaus KG

Hermann Anlagen
6 Mustervordrucke

RAID
In last month’s Windows column I reviewed Microsoft’s latest networking bundle for the small business, BackOffice Small Business Server. It’s a fantastic bundle of applications that extends the scope of operating systems to the level where they perform almost all the background tasks you can imagine.
But if you’re starting to network you need to think about more than your operating system. You need to think about your hardware too. If you move from a series of stand-alone computers to a network one of the first things you’ll do is store all your information on one central computer – a file server - instead of spreading it around each of the workstations.
Once you've done this it’s vital you keep that information safe. You must make certain that the hard disk that stores the network’s information is protected against failure. One way of doing this is through RAID technology.
RAID stands for Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks – a description that leaves most people none the wiser! RAID strings several hard disks together to look like a single hard disk so that, in the event of one hard disk failing, the others support the network as if nothing had happened.

When you hear the term “inexpensive disks” you may start to think that you use some sort of special storage media in RAID arrays. Unfortunately, this isn’t the case. “Inexpensive” is a relative term. The disks used in RAID arrays are normal hard disks. They’re only inexpensive in the sense that they cost less than the hard disks used in the workstations and servers of the past.
Six steps to heaven
There are six (and a half, in my opinion) different ‘levels’ of RAID. Luckily, the middle three options are largely ignored. Level 0 RAID is called disk striping. Data is split into blocks and spread equally across all the disks in the RAID array. There’s no fault tolerance - if data on one disk is lost the whole lot becomes unintelligible.
Disk striping’s advantage is that it amalgamates several disks of different types and sizes into one logical drive and spreads storage equally between them. Even without dedicating a separate disk controller to each disk, striping results in better performance. Indeed, it was performance – not fault tolerance - that inspired developers to invent RAID in the first place.
Level 1 RAID is called disk mirroring. A partition on one disk is entirely duplicated on another. Every byte of data written to one disk has to be written again to the second disk. This can, in theory,  degrade performance. Disk duplexing (which I’d call Level 1½) adds a second controller to the second disk which improves performance and adds an extra level of protection against controller failure.
RAID levels 2, 3 and 4 are relatively unimportant. Level 2 is disk striping with ECC (normal disk striping plus error correction code to make sure data is written correctly). Level 3 is disk striping with ECC stored as parity (normal disk striping using parity checking as the error correction technique). Level 4 is disk striping with large blocks (data is split up and spread across several disks but in large blocks).

				

				

Pennyfarthing

Furniture

Bridge

Kidpaint

Wedding

Fruit

Tailor

Woman

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