Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84; site uw-beaver Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!mhuxr!mhuxt!houxm!vax135!cornell!uw-beaver!laser-lovers From: laser-lovers@uw-beaver Newsgroups: fa.laser-lovers Subject: QMS 1200A vs LaserWriter Message-ID: <1271@uw-beaver> Date: Mon, 3-Jun-85 18:31:26 EDT Article-I.D.: uw-beave.1271 Posted: Mon Jun 3 18:31:26 1985 Date-Received: Wed, 5-Jun-85 01:13:16 EDT Sender: daemon@uw-beaver Organization: U of Washington Computer Science Lines: 65 From: Christopher A Kent We just got our 1200A hooked up, and our LaserWriter appeared last week. We don't have TranScript yet, but we have typed in one or two files from the Cookbook. I ran them off on both, and thought I'd report on the comparison. The QMS was "professionally" installed, and perhaps tuned somehow; we just took the LaserWriter out of the box and plugged it in. This is the example PostScript code, in case you want to try it: /unitsquare { newpath 0 0 moveto 0 1 lineto 1 1 lineto 1 0 lineto closepath } def /inch {72 mul} def gsave 1 inch 6.5 inch translate 1.25 inch 1.25 inch scale unitsquare fill grestore gsave 4.25 inch 3.25 inch translate 60 rotate 2 inch 2 inch scale unitsquare 1 20 div setlinewidth stroke grestore 4.5 inch 2 inch translate -45 rotate 1 inch 2 inch scale unitsquare .75 setgray fill showpage The QMS has BLACKs, while the blacks on the LaserWriter are a bit washed out (especially unit black square) -- the 2x2 outline is quite acceptable. More interesting was how the 75% gray is rendered: the LaserWriter is rendered with what appear to the naked eye to be small triangles or checks, while the QMS renders it as parallel sloping lines. It would be interesting to aim a spot meter at each and see which is closer to a true 75% gray; I personally prefer the appearance of the LaserWriter's gray tone. I noticed when I overlaid the two pieces of paper that all the shapes and orientations are exactly the same (no surprise) but the page offsets on the two devices are different. The LaserWriter prints approximately 3/8" to the right and 1/4" further down the page than the 1200A (or, if you prefer, the 1200A prints 3/8" farther to the left and 1/4" further up the page.) I have no idea why, but this may be annoying to people who are trying to meet specific formats, and seems like a mistake. Of course, this is a limited sample, and there may be some initial setup that hasn't been done correctly (A4 vs US? Paper tray inserted properly? Suggestions?) In general, I'm impressed that they're as close as they are, and a little disappointed that they're not perfect. And really lusting after my copy of TranScript, wherever it might be. Cheers, chris ----------