Alphanumeric Printer

Alphanumeric Printer 

a device in computer technology for recording on paper or a substitute the information issued by an electronic computer in the form of alphanumeric text, tables, graphs, and so on. Impact-type electromechanical printers are the most widespread—for example, the ATsPU-128–2 for the BESM-4 computer and the ATsPU-128–3 for the BESM-6. There are nonmechani-cal devices which do not use impact action but rather photographic, electrographic, electric-spark, electrothermal, and other recording methods. The speed of alphanumeric printers attains 1,000 characters a second as a result of parallel formation of the line (64 -256 characters) and of the design of the printing elements (rotating-wheel, drum, chain, and other types). Several alphanumeric printers can operate with a computer in a combined time-sharing mode. Alphanumeric printers are also used as independent remote terminals which receive information from the computer over communications channels.

REFERENCES

Temnikov, F. E. Avtomaticheskie registriruiushchie pribory, 2nd ed. Moscow, 1960.
Brown, R. Avtomatizatsiia ucheta. Moscow, 1960. (Translated from English.)

V. M. STASHEVSKII