NEC completed the N422 high-speed table printer, and in July 1964 it began operation at NEC's Electronic Computer Center, together with the large NEAC-2800 System computer.
This unit was a line printer using the type drum system, and it achieved a printing speed of 900line/min with approx. 50 kinds of type. This was a speed 2-3 times that of the previous model. Its features included:
- A kana character zone for printing kana characters was provided with some models.
- The printing format (printing position, number of lines for linefeed etc.) was controlled by a program.
- Printing errors during printing were detected by comparing printing information and printing signals.
With previous line printers, the central processing unit controlled the timing for driving the hammer in accordance with the rotation position of the type roll (type drum), but this unit made it possible to perform printing operation in parallel with calculation by the central processing unit. This was achieved by providing a dedicated independent control unit for that control, and adding an option called a printing memory mechanism to the central processing unit.
There were 3 models of this equipment, which differed in terms of the number of characters in the printable area, and the printed character types.
| Model name | N422-2 | N422-3 | N422-4 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Character types | Kana character zone(40char): Kana/numeric 58 types total Alphabetic character zone(120char): Alphanumeric/symbols 58 types total |
Alphanumeric/symbols 56 types total (numeric 10,alphabetic 26,symbols 20) |
|
| Max. number of printed characters | Any 120 characters out of 160 characters | 120char | |
| Horizontal character pitch(mm) | 2.54 | ||
| Line pitch | 4.2mm(1/6inch),3.2mm(1/8inch)was available as an option | ||
| Printing speed(line/min) | 900 | ||
| External dimensions(mm) | 2030(W)×915(D)×1448(H) | ||
| Weight(kg) | Approx. 700 | ||
