SOURCE: BLD FLASH 9708 SOURCE MATERIAL DATED: 9/97 INFOPRINT 4000 V9.1 MICROCODE ENHANCEMENTS IBM Printing Systems has released a new level of microcode in support of the IBM InfoPrint 4000-IR1/IR2 and the 3900-DR1/DR2. This new level (v9.108) became generally available on 9/19/97, in conjunction with the introduction of the InfoPrint Manager for AIX V2.1 software program product (see announcement letter 297-365 for details of the software announcement). All new InfoPrint 4000-IR1/IR2 printers shipped after 9/26/97 will have this level of microcode loaded at the manufacturing plant. For customers with currently installed InfoPrint 4000-IR1/IR2s, the new level of microcode can be installed onsite by the IBM Printing Systems Customer Engineer. CEs can request the new level from the Support Center. The code image can be received electronically and the microcode updated on the customer's machine using diskettes. Existing 3900-DR1/DR2 customers who plan to migrate to this new level will require a hard drive replacement in the control unit to migrate from a v8.xxx release of microcode to v9.108. This hard drive can be ordered using part number 90H2668. Key enhancements provided in v9.108 include: o Proof Mode II -- This Print On Demand (POD), saved pages function allows a long job to be interrupted by a shorter job, without having to resend the interrupted job's content to the printer after the shorter job completes. This can provide a considerable time savings when intermixing long multiple-copy production runs with shorter proof jobs. There is a software corequisite for using POD in saved pages mode -- InfoPrint Manager for AIX V2.1 must be used in the Multiple Printer Controller (MPC). o POD on/off -- the InfoPrint 4000 IR1/IR2 can print in both POD & non-POD (traditional IPDS) modes. The InfoPrint 4000 DR1/DR2 (3900-DR1/DR2) operates only in POD mode. o Full ESCON dual-link support is provided for the InfoPrint 4000 IR1/IR2. This attachment capability enhancement will be of interest to production printing customers using high-end operating systems running PSF/MVS across multiple LPARs. o 240 to 600 Pel Conversion as an Acceptance Mode -- the IPDS resolution menu for the InfoPrint 4000-IR1/IR2's 600 pel printhead now allows a "240" acceptance mode. In this mode, the host can send the printer 240 pel jobs and resources. The printer will scale the jobs' raster resources to 600 dpi, allow printing of 240 pel jobs on a 600 pel printhead with no change to user applications. Note that non-raster resources are rendered at 600 dpi. o Multiple Resolution Support -- the IPDS resolution menu for the InfoPrint 4000-IR1/IR2's 600 pel printhead has "Automatic" on the list. In this mode, the host can send the printer 240, 300 or 600 pel jobs and their resources and the printer will scale the jobs to print on the 600 pel printhead. This allows the user to mix jobs without having to manually change the IPDS resolution of the printer. Print Services Facility (PSF) provides several methods to identify the required resolution and desired fidelity. There is a PSF corequisite for using multiple resolution support and this function is currently available only on PSF/MVS. The PSF/MVS APAR number for this feature is OW27622 and is available the end of September 1997 (PTF UW42189). Font technology information was updated for DCF (PTF PQ07945) and OGL (PTF PQ07875) in order to facilitate multiple resolution support. These PTFs are available. o GOCA Performance Enhancements -- the performance of the GOCA tower was enhanced, yielding improvements over baseline GOCA performance for line drawing and area fill. o Spatial Enhancement of scaled 240 and 300 pel raster fonts -- This InfoPrint 4000-IR1/IR2 enhancement provides character smoothing functions when 240 or 300 pel raster fonts are scaled to the printer's defined printhead resolution (480 or 600 pel). It only applies in non-POD mode. The "spatially enhanced" characters produced using this function appear as if they were originally created as 480 or 600 pel rasters. Since print aesthetics are subjective, this enhancement is controlled by an operator configuration item and can be separately turned on and off for both single-byte and double-byte fonts. o Scale-to-Fill IOCA mapping -- this is a new IOCA mapping option that allows the user to fill an object area with an image. The image is scaled independently in the X and Y dimensions in order to fill the object area. This is different from scale-to-fit in that the aspect ratio of the image is not preserved. This feature is supported by InfoPrint Manager (PSF for AIX) and PSF/2. o 1024 Defined Forms -- This usability enhancement increases the number of forms that an operator can define on a single printer 256 to 1024. o Dial-In Support -- This serviceability enhancement allows IBM Level 3 support to access the printer via modem for remote problem determination and resolution. o 20% Page Reduction RPQ -- This option reduces text, bar code, image and graphic data by 20%. It keeps original sizes and placement for Control Edge Marks, Side Verify Marks, Mark Forms and Page Boundary Marks. It is only activated when the printhead resolution is 600 and the displayed IPDS resolution is 300. The printer reports to the host that it is a 240 pel printer. This 20% reduction allows jobs that originally fit on B4 paper to fit on A4 paper. This is Special Feature RPQ 8B4014 for the InfoPrint 4000-IR1/IR2.