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Computer Concepts LaserDirect (top)
Computer Concepts LaserDirect (back)
Computer Concepts LaserDirect (bottom)
Computer Concepts LaserDirect for Cannon LBP4 (top)
Computer Concepts LaserDirect for Cannon LBP4 (top)
Computer Concepts LaserDirect for Cannon LBP4 (top)
Computer Concepts LaserDirect for Cannon LBP8 (top)
Back in 1990, laser printers cost a fortune, because they need lots of memory to hold the bitmap to be printed and memory was not cheap. You also needed a fast CPU to convert the image from Postscript or PCL into the bitmap. Along came Computer Concepts who saw that the ARM2 was one of the fastest CPUs around and that the Archimedes could have enough memory (ca. 2MB) to hold the bitmap page images. The result was the LaserDirect which did away with the laser printers CPU and memory and drove the printing mechanism directly from the Archimedes using the ARM CPU and its memory.
The first LaserDirect printer was based on the Qume CrystalPrint page printer, see QUME on the right had side of the first picture. Risc User magazine estimated that it was 30-50% faster than the normal Qume printer and 4 to 5 times faster than a dot matrix type printer.
Later Computer Concepts developed a version using the Canon LBP-4 and LBP-8 printer engine, see later pictures.
Unfortunate a Laser Direct podule is not much use now unless you still have the LaserDirect printer in working order. I am sure there are some still around.
Here is the Computer Concepts LaserDirect manual (for a Qume printer).