PCL Language

[Kenneth Brody]

On 9/10/2011 6:50 AM, smittyusn1 at bellsouth.net wrote:
> I found this very descriptive page on the history of HP’s PCL Printer
> language.   I thought the fp list would be interested.  I have never
> had it explained so well.   I was looking at a  Samsung Laser Printer
> (24ppm) for $59.95 at Newegg and was trying to figure out what “Samsung
> Printer Language” is.   I think I am going to buy the printer and find
> out if it would be happy with filePro right out of the box.
>
>   http://www.undocprint.org/formats/page_description_languages/pcl

I'm not sure why you think that SPL ("Samsung Printer Language") would be 
compatible with PCL, unless they specifically said it was some PCL 
emulation.  (ie: printers with "PostScript emulation" don't have an 
"official" PostScript language, but they claim compatibility.)

Anyway, the same website has an SPL page that makes it pretty clear it's 
probably nothing like PCL:

     http://www.undocprint.org/formats/page_description_languages/spl

    "Microsoft and Samsung developed the Samsung Printer Language (SPL).
     This enabled the windows GDI language to be converted into bitmap
     while printing."

Sounds like those cheap "Windows-only" printers.  (Though nowadays, there 
are Mac and Linux drivers for them, so the term isn't very accurate anymore.)

Why not just go for a "real" printer?  We recently bought a Dell 2150cdn 
color laser printing with duplex and networking built in, and PCL-5e/5C/6, 
for about $200.  (Yes, that's more than $59.95, but you get a whole lot more 
bang for the buck.)

-- 
Kenneth Brody