A new printer performance measurement unit will soon take over from the established characters per second, chps, if the companies involved in the European Printer Performance Test Group, EPPT, have their way. The EPPT, initiated by DRI’s Newbury Data Recording Ltd – the only British firm involved – Honeywell Bull, Olivetti, Philips, Siemens, Facit, Hermes and Wenger, has introduced the new pages per hour unit, pph. It reckons this came out of growing industry dissatisfaction with the current measurement, which represents only the instantaneous print speed on a line of print. This doesn’t account for paper movement and printhead direction changes, says the EPPT, and so accurate comparisons between printers can’t be made. Newbury Data, announcing existence of the group for the first time, says the specification is based on tests which simulate typical user applications – such as a letter or spreadsheet – printed within certain limits. On that basis, the EPPT claims that the Newbury 8850A 480chps printer, comparable with the Oki ML294 at 400chps, should in fact have a rating of 377 pph, representing greater effectiveness than the Oki’s 276 pph. The new specification was put to the West German DIN and European Computer Manufacturers Association, ECMA, in February and will be put forward to the CEN standards body of the EEC on September 18. The EPPT is also considering going to the International Standards Organisation but feels the European bias of the unit may count against it. Newbury Data took the opportunity to launch its new enhanced 8000 series as the 8000A matrix listing printers, including the new 8846A. The entry level 8820A offers print speeds of 237 pph, 150chps, while the 8910A has a print speed of 378 pph, 330chps. Newbury’s latest product, the 8846A, is single headed and rated at 378 pph, 300 chps, with a noise level of 55dBA. The top-of-the-range 8850A is a 446 pph, double headed printer. The 8000A family is priced from UKP995 to UKP2,200.
