Emulated technologies

There are a number of things that you need to look out for when comparing a HP Designjet large format printer against another manufacturers product, in order to gain an accurate "like for like" comparison.

For example, many manufacturers use their own 'emulated' Adobe PostScript to reduce costs and avoid paying Adobe's licence fees.  Such manufacturers include Canon and Kyocera.  Adobe themselves indicate it is a question of reliability and advise:  "While these third party technologies attempt to emulate the PostScript language, only true Adobe PostScript devices offer a complete printing system that includes comprehensive interpreter and driver technologies.  They also offer the reliability required by today's enterprise environments.  Foremost, Adobe PostScript devices must pass a series of tests established by Adobe to assure uncompromised quality".  Adobe proceed to explain how they check for various subtleties such as font rendering etc over thousands of prints and then conclude "With Adobe PostScript you always get leading-edge technology, thoroughly tested to ensure a superior product".

Similarly, many manufacturers such as Xerox and Canon also emulate HPs own HP/GL and HP GL/2 languages to reduce large format printer costs.