What are the differences between PCL4, PCL5, and PCL6?
John Becich
Can someone give me a succinct answer?
Let me guess...PCL4 allows a minimal font set and minimal vector graphics to
be printed? PCL6 is deluxe??? PCL5 is somewhere in between?
My vintage 1992 HP IIIP has PCL5 capability, whatever that means. I'm
looking at a new, inexpensive laser printer that has PCL4 capability. A
more expensive unit has PCL6 capability. I'm mystified. What's this all
about?
Thanks,
John
John Becich
It's worth noting that there is a major difference between driving
HP Laserjet 3 or 4 (PCL5) and driving HP Laserjet 2 (PCL4). PCL5
has scalable fonts, and an implementation of HPGL/2 - HP's graphics
language. Driving PCL5 is fairly easy. PCL4 doesn't support scalable
fonts or graphics, and they have to be simulated by downloads and
raster graphics. A full feature driver for PCL4 will also work on PCL5,
whereas something taking advantage of PCL5 won't work on PCL4. Groff
only supports PCL5. Psroff has full function drivers for both PCL4
and PCL5.
Any comments? Looks to me like PCL4 is a very antiquated standard...
Kasey Chang
PCL5 is basically PCL4 + scalable fonts (previous versions you need one
set of fonts for each font size). Have no idea about PCL6.
--KC
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Andrew Rossmann
If I heard right, PCL6 is more of a text-based language like PostScript
instead of the ESC code language PCL 1 thorugh 5 is..
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John Becich
"Andrew Rossmann" <andy...@ntsource.no_junk.com> wrote in message
news:3A12CE04...@ntsource.no_junk.com...
>
> If I heard right, PCL6 is more of a text-based language like PostScript
> instead of the ESC code language PCL 1 thorugh 5 is..
>
at the HP website, I found this:
HP LaserJet Printers - What Is the Enhanced PCL XL or PCL6
Driver?
In this document:
Overview of the Enhanced (PCL XL) or PCL6 Driver
PCL6 Functionality
Benefits of PCL6
NOTE: The HP LaserJet 5 printer driver is named "Enhanced PCL
XL." All other printers use the name "PCL6."
Overview of the Enhanced (PCL XL) or PCL6 Driver
PCL 6 is the next evolution of the Hewlett-Packard LaserJet PCL
language and related technologies. PCL 6 has three key components, one
component, referred to as PCL 6 Enhanced has been optimized for printing
from graphical user interfaces (GUIs) like Microsoft (R) Windows and OS/2.
The second component referred to as PCL 6 Standard provides complete
backward compatibility with past HP LaserJet printers. The third component
is referred to as Font Synthesis.
The Enhanced PCL XL or PCL6 driver that is included with the HP
LaserJet printers provides enhanced WYSIWYG and enhanced performance with
application support over the Standard (PCL5e) driver. PCL XL is a new page
description language by HP that is part of PCL6 and is closer to GDI, which
many applications use. Less translation takes place by the driver, which
means increased WYSIWYG capabilities and better performance with
applications that support escapes implemented by the Enhanced driver. The
output from the Enhanced (PCL XL) driver may not be the same as the output
from the Standard driver. If the output is not as expected, choose the
Standard (PCL5e) driver instead.
PCL6 Functionality
PCL 6 Enhanced commands are designed to optimally match the
graphics printing requirements for GUI-based applications. In most cases,
for every graphics print command that a GUI wishes to perform, there is a
matching PCL 6 Enhanced command. This reduces the number of commands
required to describe a graphics page.
Each command in PCL 6 Enhanced is designed to require minimal
data transfer from the host PC to the printer. This reduces the amount of
data required to describe a page.
The Windows Printing System for most HP LaserJet printers
provides two separate drivers: Standard and Enhanced. The Standard driver
provides backward compatibility by using PCL 6 Standard (PCL5e) commands to
print simple text or mixed text and graphics pages. The Enhanced driver
utilizes the PCL 6 Enhanced commands that have been optimized for printing
complex graphics pages.
Benefits of PCL6
Compatibility with current HP LaserJet printers ensures that
documents will look the same, and users will not have to worry about
changing formats.
By reducing the number of commands and amount of data required
to describe a graphics page, users experience faster return to application
and be able to print more complex graphics pages in standard memory.
Also, by matching the graphics commands in the printer to the
graphics interface of the GUIs, users experience true WYSIWYG (What You See
Is What You Get) for all pages.
