Epson America Inc has introduced the ESC/P 2, a new printer control language for dot-matrix printers that is said to provide enhanced graphics capability and scalable fonts: Epson ESC/P 2 is an extension of ESC/P, a language for 24-pin printing also known as Epson LQ; ESC/P 2 will be incorporated into all future LQ printers from Epson, starting in July with the new LQ-570, LQ-870, LQ-1170 and ActionPrinter 5000 models; the Torrance, California company says that the most visible benefits of ESC/P 2 are scalable fonts in even sizes ranging from eight to 32 points; also, Epson ESC/P 2 has an enhanced graphics mode that places dots more accurately for 360 by 360 dots-per-inch output; the company is working with software companies for development of drivers that exploit the performance capabilities of ESC/P 2, and the LQ-570, LQ-870 and LQ-1170 printers include ESC/P 2 drivers for WordPerfect 5.1, PlanPerfect 5.1, DrawPerfect 1.1, Letter-Perfect 1.0, Microsoft Windows 3.0, Microsoft Word 5.5 and WordStar 6; for fast printing from Windows or other graphic environments, a raster graphics mode produces 360 by 180 dots-per-inch resolution in a single pass of the print head; several new features either reduce or eliminate the requirement for extensive data manipulation by the application.
