What are the characteristics of the communication interface of the barcode printer?

The characteristics of the communication interface of barcode printers are mainly reflected in the following aspects:

1. Serial port (RS-232 port)

Definition: Serial port generally refers to the COM port, which is an extension interface using serial communication. The most common is the 9-pin D-shaped connector, also known as the RS-232 interface.

Features:

The communication line is simple: as long as a pair of transmission lines can achieve two-way communication, and even the telephone line can be directly used as the transmission line, thus greatly reducing the cost.

Suitable for long-distance communication: due to the long transmission interval, it is especially suitable for the case where the host and the printer are far away.

Low cost: high penetration rate, easy to connect printers.

Slow speed: Because the data is transmitted bit by bit in sequence, the transmission speed is relatively slow.

Poor networking capability: vulnerable to the electromagnetic impact of the cable environment, communication instability, and even the serial port burned out.

2. Parallel interface (parallel interface)

Definition: Parallel interface, also referred to as "parallel interface", is an enhanced two-way parallel transmission interface. At present, the parallel interface in the computer is mainly used as the bar code printer port, and the interface is no longer a 36-pin connector but a 25-pin D-shaped connector.

Features:

Fast transmission speed: Because multi-bit data can be transmitted together, the transmission speed is very fast, with a maximum transmission speed of 1.5Mbps.

Short transmission distance: As the distance increases, interference also increases, resulting in error-prone data.

Easy to install and use: there is no need to use other cards in the PC, and the number of connections is unlimited (as long as there are enough ports).

3. USB port

Definition: The full name of USB is Universal Serial Bus (universal serial Bus), is a fast, two-way, synchronous transmission, cheap interface.

Features:

Fast transfer speed: the maximum transfer rate of the full-speed USB interface can reach 12Mb/s, while the high-speed USB interface rate of the USB 2.0 standard is up to 480Mb/s, and the latest USB 3.1 supports a transfer rate of up to 10Gb/s.

Support hot swap: plug and play, convenient and fast.

Strong wildcard: multiple different devices can be connected, while the past serial port and parallel port can only be connected to one device.

4. Network port (RJ45 network port)

Definition: The printer supports network printing, that is, as long as the access to the LAN, set the IP, sharing, network protocol, etc., you can directly print out the data transmitted by the computer through the network transmission.

Features:

Strong sharing: support multiple computers to share the same printer.

Fast printing speed: the advantage is especially obvious when printing some documents with large amounts of data and complex and high-precision pictures.

High flexibility: Users do not need to connect the printer directly to each computer, improving the cleanliness and flexibility of the office environment.

5. PS/2 port

Definition: PS/2 is one of the common interfaces on early computers, used for devices such as mice and keyboards. The connector is smaller in package and still uses bidirectional serial communication protocol.

Features:

Does not occupy system resources: Compared with the USB port, the PS/2 port does not occupy system resources.

Do not support hot swap: Forced live plug may burn the motherboard, need special attention when using.

In summary, different communication interfaces of bar code printers have their own characteristics and application scenarios, and users can choose the appropriate interface type according to actual needs.