Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!lll-winken!lll-lcc!lll-tis!helios.ee.lbl.gov!pasteur!ucbvax!hplabs!hp-pcd!hpcvlx!bturner
From: bturner@hpcvlx.HP.COM (Bill Turner)
Newsgroups: comp.windows.misc
Subject: Re: MS Windows and HP Paintjet
Message-ID: <102040005@hpcvlx.HP.COM>
Date: 27 Oct 88 17:15:28 GMT
References: <482@usl.usl.edu>
Organization: Hewlett-Packard Co., Corvallis, OR, USA
Lines: 28

>>Does anyone know how to speed up the performance of the HP PaintJet??
>
> Yes. Rewrite the code in its ROM's so that is works efficiently.
> The code was written by HP so that it was intentionally slow, so
> as not to cut into the market for Laser-Jets. This process is called
> "crippling" and has been developed to a high art by large computer
> companies.

First, I seriously doubt this, and second, its quite close to libelous.

Most likely, performance problems with printers under MS Windows are 
due to the printer driver for Windows.  Especially if the slowdown is
in the graphics area (I'm assuming that text output is acceptable?).
The problem is that the way MSW does graphics to a device such as the
PaintJet (or LaserJet, for that matter) is to divide the page into
"bnads", then replay the *entire* drawing through each of these bands.
So, if there are 10 bands on a page, the drawing is repainted 10 times.

It is possible to bypass the printer driver and do the banding to the
printer yourself.  Or, if you're hardcore, you can write your own 
printer driver (Microsoft has [had?] a printer driver's kit; contact
Gabe Newell for more information).

CAVEAT:  I haven't seen the PaintJet run, either direct from the PC or
from Windows, so I can't say much about the performance.  I have seen
other printers slowed down by poorly written drivers for MSW, but I
don't know if this is really the problem.

--Bill Turner