XPM 200HR™
Thermal Printer Family
HENGSTLER
®
Part No. D 690 074
Mod. No. 4 300113 LEV
page 26 of 32
8.2. Graphics/Bar Codes
Printing graphics rather than text consumes more current than printing only text. Typical text-
only printing is considered to be 12.5% coverage on average, while graphic printing varies
from 25% to 50% average, consuming 2X to 4X the average current. Printing bar codes is in
the same category, and draws about 4X the current of text. Both should be avoided or
minimized to reduce current draw. In terms of current draw, it does not matter whether
printing is done using the printer’s internal character set or the via the driver.
8.3. Reverse Printing
Reverse printing should be avoided, since everything that’s normally black becomes white,
and vice-versa, drawing (in average text) about 8 times the current.
8.4. Dot History Factor
Dot history monitors previously burned dots and reheats them for a shorter time to prevent
blooming and excessively black areas, thereby decreasing total current consumption. Using
dot history and minimizing the main burn time will reduce average current draw. Please refer
to the XPM 200HR™ Emulation Command Set Reference for the specific command
sequence.
8.5. Burn Time Correction
The XPM 200HR™ family of printers include a feature that will adjust burn time automatically
depending upon ambient temperature. Burn Time Correction allows the adjustment of these
burn times to “tune” the printer to maximum performance for any given paper, thereby
improving print quality but having little effect on current consumption. If current draw is truly
critical, reducing these values will reduce current slightly at the cost of lower contrast in the
printout. Please refer to the XPM 200HR™ Emulation Command Set Reference for the
specific command sequence.
8.6. Multi-Strobe Factor
This feature is the only XPM 200HR™ software feature that will reduce
peak
current. When
this features is turned on, only one side of the printhead is fired at a time, reducing the peak
current by a factor of two, but having virtually no effect on average current. This is very useful
if your power supply has a restrictive maximum current, but slows printing. Please refer to the
XPM 200HR™ Emulation Command Set Reference for the specific command sequence.
8.7. Print Density Adjustment
Increasing print density will improve print quality, but at the same time will increase average
current. Therefore Print Density is always a trade-off between these two characteristics. Use
the lowest print density that is visually acceptable to minimize current draw. Please refer to
the XPM 200HR™ Emulation Command Set Reference for the specific command sequence.
