Photocopier

Digital Copier Memory
The numerous functions delivered by a digital copier- scanning, faxing, printing etc- are enabled by the memory or RAM (Random Access Memory) installed in your digital photocopier. The amount of memory available on your digital copier has a bearing on its overall operating efficiency-- inadequate memory can reduce the efficiency considerably. Support for more features may require additional memory, which you can upgrade as per your requirements. Some digital copier models also have hard drives which allow documents to be stored for future use.

The memory of a digital copier can either be shared or dedicated for each function. For example:

• Shared memory: Single large cache of memory is utilized for all functions such as printing, copying or faxing.
• Dedicated memory: A small cache of memory is dedicated to each function.

Three factors you must consider with regard to memory, when purchasing a digital copier must include:

• The type of memory: shared or dedicated
• The memory available: typically within a range of 4MB to 256 MB
• The memory system : generic ( SIMMs) or proprietary

Copy and scan memory
Apart from copying documents, the digital copier scans the original document and records the document as digital information. This digital record is stored in the scanner’s memory and the image can be edited if required. The digital file can then be used to print as many documents as required. The content of the digital file remains same until edited or a new document is placed to be scanned.

Most digital copiers have memory ranging from 4MB to 256MB plus. To enable moderate volume image printing or image editing features you may require at least 16MB of copier memory.

Fax memory
A minimal 1MB memory will suffice for faxing 60-80 pages. Additional memory may be required if you intend to hold faxes in the memory of your copier to be sent during the low rate or off-peak hours.

Printer memory
Some points that must consider with regard to printer memory are:

• The speed and efficiency of any copier is determined by the printer memory; standard memory provided may not be enough
• Certain languages such as PostScript can require more memory for faster printing
• Detailed or complex documents require more memory to process prints
• You can consider purchasing additional memory or hard drives to boost memory requirements.