SOURCE: BLD FLASH 9549 SOURCE MATERIAL DATED: 7/96 IBM 3160 PERFORMANCE CONSIDERATIONS Updated July 9, 1996 Refer to "NOTE" in side-sensitive option bullet below. A new microcode EC change is coming at the end of April which eliminates the double click charge of the usage meter for a simplex sheet traveling through the duplex paper path. It will now click only once (pay for print side, not for blank side). When replacing the IBM 3825 printer with the new IBM 3160 Advanced Function Printer one should be aware of the differences in operation which can affect the performance of some customer applications. The first thing to verify is the 3160 microcode level, which is printed as part of the print configuration procedure. A defect was found shortly after GA that severely affects the performance of duplex printing on the 3160. Ma- chines shipped prior to 12/11/95 should be upgraded with microcode patch 3.04 or later. The IBM CE can obtain the patch through Level 2 Support. If a customer prints 3 hole paper or pre-printed forms, the 3160 has two options, Edge-Sensitive and Side-Sensitive designed to support special appli- cations. These settings can affect printer performance and are described be- low. o The Edge Sensitive option simply rotates the logical page 180 degrees on portrait simplex pages and should have no affect on performance. o The Side Sensitive option prints side two first, emulating the 3825. While this works fine in duplex mode, this option forces even simplex pages through the duplex paper path, reducing performance to 30 ipm and affecting usage charges*. This option should be used only when the ma- jority of print from this drawer would be duplexed. An alternative for customers who heavily mix simplex and duplex printing from a drawer with side sensitive forms would be to load one drawer for duplex operation of these forms, and another drawer for simplex, (with the paper loaded face down to eliminate the need for the Side Sensitive option when simplexing.) * NOTE: By the end of July, a new release of microcode (Version 3.08 is the planned code identifier) will be sent as an EC to all installed 3160 printer accounts. Endicott Manufacturing will being shipping printers with this code at that time also. This code will have an enhancement which will allow the usage meter to only click once, for a simplex sheet fed through the duplex paper path using the "side-sensitivity" option. This change will allow the customers to migrate applications from their 3825 printers to the 3160 without paying double usage charges. If a customer's application often switches from simplex to duplex in the mid- dle of jobs, they may also notice a performance difference between the 3825 and the 3160 in the number of lost cycles when switching. The 3825 was very unique in that there were no lost cycles when switching from Simplex to Du- plex. It is common for high speed laser printers to lose cycles during Simplex to Duplex switching operations. For example, the 3160 will lose 4 cycles (impressions) during this operation. The following table lists the cycles lost when switching between duplex and simplex on the IBM page printers. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ TABLE 1: -Delay in Printing Cycles for Switching- 3116 3930 3130 3935 3825 3160 3827 Simplex to duplex: 2 2 4 4 0 4 1 Duplex to simplex: 0 0 0 0 1* 0 1 TABLE 2: -----Delay in seconds for Switching----- 3116 3930 3130 3935 3825 3160 3827 Simplex to duplex: 7.5 4 8 7 0 4 0.65 Duplex to simplex: 0 0 0 0 1* 0 0.65 TABLE 3: ------------- Maximum PPM -------------- 3116 3930 3130 3935 3825 3160 3827 Simplex only: 16 30 30 35 58 60 92 Alternating simplex and duplex sheets: 10 18 12.9 15 36 25.7 55 Percent of Simplex achieved when alternating: 62% 60% 43% 43% 62% 43% 60% * 3825 delay is 0, 1, or 2 printing cycles, depending on how many sheets are in the duplex process when switching from duplex. To estimate printing rates for other combinations of simplex-duplex pages, use this formula: Rate = PPM ( N / ( N + D ) ) where o PPM is the maximum (rated) speed of the printer. o N is the total number of impressions in a single sequence of simplex-duplex sheets. o D is the sum of duplex-simplex and simplex-duplex switching delays, in printing cycles, from table 1 above. Example, for an application printing 3 simplex sheets followed by 2 duplex sheets, on the 3935: PPM = 35 N = 7 (3 simplex impressions followed by 4 duplex impressions) D = 0 + 4 = 4 (from Table 1 above, for the 3935) Rate = 35 ( 7 / ( 7 + 4 ) ) = 22.3 PPM Notes: 1. This estimate assumes normal input and output tray use, with no tray switching. On some printers, additional delays may be incurred when switching from one input tray to another. 2. This formula will be inaccurate for the 3825, due to the variable switching delay which depends on the number of duplex sheets left in the duplex process when a switch to simplex occurs. The average delay may not apply. A worst case estimate for the 3825 can be calculated using the maximum 2 cycle delay value. 3. The 3916 printer may be estimated as if it were a 3116. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The results of early 3160 performance testing have shown there are no lost cycles (pages) when switching between input paper drawers 1,2 and 3.