printer interface

With the USB interface, which has achieved rapid development with data rates of 480 Mbit/s (USB 2.0) and even 5 Gbit/s( USB 3.0), there is an alternative to the classic parallel interface, the Centronics interface, which used to be the standard printer interface.

Another alternative is FireWire, or IEEE 1394. This interface also achieves data rates of between 400 Mbit/s and 3.2 Gbit/s. Appropriate printer drivers can convert the USB or 1394 interfaces of desktops or notebooks and thus trigger the printing process. The advantage of the USB interface and 1394 lies in the significantly higher transfer rate compared to Centronics and, above all, in the smaller dimensions, which are of decisive importance for notebooks.