Controllers and User Interface Units

A printer contains an operating system that receives print jobs, processes them and sends signals to the printing system to actually convert the prints into printed paper.

This operating system is commonly referred to as “controller”. The controller has a user interface section, which allows users to define, modify and start their copy or print job.

Initially, controllers were only intended to control copiers, but with the advent of networks and digital print jobs, the controller was expanded with a receiving section for such jobs.

The different product lines of Océ equipment (office, wide format and high speed) also had different controllers developed for their specific applications.

Office Printers

As early as the 1980s, Océ developed a digital printer for printing data files generated by large mainframe computers such as IBM’s. These controllers couldn’t do much more than form letters and put them in the right place. An advanced function at the time was the building of forms, in which data was presented on paper.

1994 Hurricane and 1996 DAC

Océ’s first printers for office environments had a controller called Hurricane that allowed a printer to receive and control jobs from the network.

A Digital Access Controller (DAC) was added to enable a digital copier to also print jobs from the network.

2005 PRISMAsync

Software systems tend to become obsolete and a need arose for a new line of controllers suitable for printers and multifunctional devices. This line would later result in the PRISMAsync controller, which up to now controls many Canon/Océ office and production printers.

Wide Format Printers

The development of controllers for wide format printers started in 1996 and resulted in the WARP controller. Before that time, controls had already been developed to handle complex local print jobs.

2015 Powersync

The Powersync is a further development of the WARP controller and was introduced in 2015 for Océ’s first generation of wide format inkjet printers Colorwave.

High Speed Printers

The high-speed printers developed and manufactured by the Océ division in Poing had a controller designed for their specific application.

1997 SRA

The SRA controller, originally developed by Siemens-Nixdorf, was further developed and integrated into the Océ infrastructure and is still being used in high-speed printers.