How we test
A manufacturer’s specs will tell you lots about what to expect from a printer or MFP, particularly given that key performance indicators – such as toner life and inkjet print speed – are calculated according to ISO tests. Even so, there’s no substitute for hands-on experience. That’s where we come in, assaulting every MFP and printer with a battery of tests designed to uncover its strengths and weaknesses.
We start with untimed print tests to assess text quality, black-and-white shading and photo printing. If there’s a scanner, we also capture a Kodak Q60 colour input target, which helps us understand the device’s dynamic range.
Next we begin our timed tests. For a printer, that means kicking off with 25 copies of a formal letter in black only. We record the time taken from hitting the Print button until the first page clears the printer, giving us a “time to first page” (TTFP). We also time until the last page rolls out, giving an overall speed. On a laser device, we repeat the TTFP test when the device has been idle for an hour, to establish how quickly it can warm up and return to service.
On an inkjet, we print again in draft mode to check print quality and see if the speed is improved. And on the fastest lasers, we time a 50-page text document to give a more indicative measure of their maximum speed.
Next it’s time to check graphical performance, with our notoriously taxing mixed colour graphics document. This 24-page beast comprises presentation slides, magazine pages and web printouts – the extra processing involved can cause some colour printers to fall well below their rated speed.
If the printer has duplex capabilities, we print the first ten pages of this document onto five sheets to give us a figure in images per minute (ipm). On a laser printer, we use one of the more straightforward pages from this document to time how quickly it prints a single colour page. Again, we repeat this test after an hour’s inactivity to get a colour TTFP from sleep.
We want to know if a printer is suited to photos. On inkjets, we load photo paper and print six postcardsized (10 x 15cm) borderless photos at the highest possible quality. Then we time two 10 x 8in prints on A4 photo paper. We test with plain paper on a laser device, and a modified version of the 10 x 15cm photo document.
We time how long single photocopies take on an MFP, in black only and colour. If there’s an automatic document feeder we’ll load it up and time ten pages. We’ll test the scanner by timing an A4 preview, then an A4 scan at 150 and 300 dots per inch (dpi). Switching to a postcardsized photo, we time scans at 600 and 1,200dpi. All the while, the device is hooked up to a power meter, allowing us to measure its standby, sleep and peak power use.
We’ve printed the most important results in the graphs on p90, but if anything is particularly good or bad, we’ll highlight it in the review itself.