Multifunction printer - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

An MFP multifunctional, all-in-one (AIO), or Multifunction Device (MFD), is an office machine which incorporates the functionality of multiple devices in one, so as to have a smaller footprint in a home or small business

Small business

A small business is a business that is privately owned and operated, with a small number of employees and relatively low volume of sales. Small businesses are normally privately owned corporations, partnerships, or sole proprietorships...

setting (the SOHO

Small office/home office

Small office/home office, or SOHO, refers to the category of business or cottage industry which involves from 1 to 10 workers. SOHO can also stand for single office/home office....

market segment), or to provide centralized document management/distribution/production in a large-office setting. A typical MFP may act as a combination of some or all of the following devices:

Printer
Computer printer
In computing, a printer is a peripheral which produces a text or graphics of documents stored in electronic form, usually on physical print media such as paper or transparencies. Many printers are primarily used as local peripherals, and are attached by a printer cable or, in most new printers, a...
Scanner
Image scanner
In computing, an image scanner—often abbreviated to just scanner—is a device that optically scans images, printed text, handwriting, or an object, and converts it to a digital image. Common examples found in offices are variations of the desktop scanner where the document is placed on a glass...
Photocopier
Fax
Fax
Fax , sometimes called telecopying, is the telephonic transmission of scanned printed material , normally to a telephone number connected to a printer or other output device...
E-mail
E-mail
Electronic mail, commonly known as email or e-mail, is a method of exchanging digital messages from an author to one or more recipients. Modern email operates across the Internet or other computer networks. Some early email systems required that the author and the recipient both be online at the...

Types of MFPs

MFP manufacturers traditionally divided MFPs in to various segments. The segments roughly divide the MFPs according to their speed in pages per minute (ppm) and duty cycle/robustness. Despite this, many manufacturers are beginning to avoid the segment definition for their products, as speed and basic functionality alone are often not sufficient to differentiate the many features that the devices are capable of. Two color MFPs of a similar speed will be in the same segment, despite having potentially very different feature sets, and therefore very different prices. From a marketing perspective, the manufacturer of the more expensive MFP would want to differentiate their product as much as possible to justify the price difference, and therefore the segment definition is avoided.

Many MFP types, regardless of the category they fall in to, also come in a "printer only" variety, which is the same model without the scanner unit included. This is even the case with devices where the scanner unit physically appears to be highly integrated in to the product.

Today, Multifunction printers are available from just about all printer manufacturers. They are designed for home, small business, enterprise and commercial use. Naturally, the cost, usability, robustness, throughput, output quality, etc. all vary with the various use cases. However, they all generally do the same functions; Print, Scan, Fax, and Photocopy. In the commercial/enterprise area, most MFP have used Laser Printer

Laser printer

A laser printer is a common type of computer printer that rapidly produces high quality text and graphics on plain paper. As with digital photocopiers and multifunction printers , laser printers employ a xerographic printing process, but differ from analog photocopiers in that the image is produced...

technology, while in the personal, SOHO environmens, Inkjet Printer

Inkjet printer

An inkjet printer is a type of computer printer that creates a digital image by propelling droplets of ink onto paper. Inkjet printers are the most commonly used type of printer and range from small inexpensive consumer models to very large professional machines that can cost up to thousands of...

technology has been used. Typically Inkjet printers have struggled with delivering the performance and color saturation demanded by enterprise/large business use. However, HP has recently launched a business grade MFP using Inkjet technology.

In any case, instead of rigidly defined segments based on speed, more general definitions based on intended target audience and capabilities are now becoming much more common. While there is no formal definition, it is common agreed amongst MFP manufacturers that the products fall roughly in to the following categories:

AIO

An AIO is a small desktop unit, designed for home or home office use.

Generally the features an AIO has focus on scan and print functionality for home use, and may come with bundled software for organising photos, simple OCR and other uses of interest to a home user. An AIO will always include the basic functions of Print and Scan, with most also including Copy functionality and a lesser number with Fax capabilities.

AIO devices are usually not networked and are generally connected by USB or Parallel.

An interesting note about AIO devices is that they often have features lacking in the larger devices, due to their target towards home users. These functions include smart card readers, direct connection to digital cameras (e.g. PictBridge

PictBridge

PictBridge is an industry standard introduced in 2003 from the Camera & Imaging Products Association for direct printing. It allows images to be printed directly from digital cameras to a printer, without having to connect the camera to a computer. Its formal name is . CIPA DC-001-2003 Rev...

technology) and other similar uses.

The print engine of most AIOs is based on either a home desktop inkjet printer

Inkjet printer

, or a home desktop laser printer

Laser printer

. They may be black and white or colour capable.

On some AIOs, like the Hewlett-Packard

Hewlett-Packard

Hewlett-Packard Company or HP is an American multinational information technology corporation headquartered in Palo Alto, California, USA that provides products, technologies, softwares, solutions and services to consumers, small- and medium-sized businesses and large enterprises, including...

Photosmart C8180 printer, have a DVD

DVD

A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....

burner and Lightscribe

LightScribe

LightScribe is an optical disc recording technology that uses specially coated recordable CD and DVD media to produce laser-etched labels with text or graphics, as opposed to stick-on labels and printable discs....

functionality where the user could burn DVDs and create an image on a special Lightscribe DVD or CD using special software like Roxio

Roxio

Roxio is a division and brand of Sonic Solutions . Roxio branded products are sold online, through over 15,000 retail outlets, to organizations through volume license agreements and pre-loaded onto OEM PC's and devices...

or Nero AG

Nero AG

Nero is a global computer software company headquartered in Karlsbad, Germany. It is perhaps most well-known for its burning software, Nero Burning ROM.-History:The company was founded as Ahead Software GmbH in 1995 by Richard Lesser....

Software Suite to create the image. To create a Lightscribe image, it takes about 10–25 minutes to make.

SOHO MFP

A large desktop or small freestanding unit, designed for Small Office/Home Office use. Often, the form factor of the MFP (desktop or freestanding) depends on the options added, such as extra paper trays or so on.

Generally a SOHO MFP will have basic Print, Copy, Scan and Fax functionality only, but towards the larger end of the scale, may include simple document storage and retrieval, basic authentication functions and so on, making the higher end of the "SOHO" scale difficult to differentiate from the lower end of the "Office" MFP scale.

SOHO MFPs are usually networked, however may also be connected via USB or, less frequently, parallel. SOHO MFPs may have basic finishing functionality such as duplexing, stapling and holepunching, however this is rare. In general, document output offset, sorting and collation are standard capabilities.

By comparison to an AIO, a SOHO MFP is more likely to have an automatic document feeder, greater fax capabilities and faster output performance.
Most SOHO MFPs have their history in low end black and white photocopier

Photocopier

A photocopier is a machine that makes paper copies of documents and other visual images quickly and cheaply. Most current photocopiers use a technology called xerography, a dry process using heat...

s, and the print engine is therefore based around this type of technology.

Office MFP

A mid-sized freestanding unit, designed as a central office system.

These units are usually the most fully featured type of MFP. They include the basic Print, Copy and Scan functions with optional fax functionality as well as networked document storage with security, authentication using common network user credentials, ability to run custom software (often a manufacturer will supply a Software Development Kit

Software development kit

A software development kit is typically a set of software development tools that allows for the creation of applications for a certain software package, software framework, hardware platform, computer system, video game console, operating system, or similar platform.It may be something as simple...

), advanced network scan destinations such as FTP, WebDAV

WebDAV

Web-based Distributed Authoring and Versioning is a set of methods based on the Hypertext Transfer Protocol that facilitates collaboration between users in editing and managing documents and files stored on World Wide Web servers...

, Email

Electronic mail, commonly known as email or e-mail, is a method of exchanging digital messages from an author to one or more recipients. Modern email operates across the Internet or other computer networks. Some early email systems required that the author and the recipient both be online at the...

, SMB

Server Message Block

In computer networking, Server Message Block , also known as Common Internet File System operates as an application-layer network protocol mainly used to provide shared access to files, printers, serial ports, and miscellaneous communications between nodes on a network. It also provides an...

and NFS stores, encryption for data transmission and so on.

Office MFPs usually have moderately advanced finishing functions as options such as duplexing, stapling, holepunching, offset modes and booklet creation.

Office MFPs are almost always networked, however some have optional or standard (but infrequently used) USB and parallel

IEEE 1284

IEEE 1284 is a standard that defines bi-directional parallel communications between computers and other devices.-History:In the 1970s, Centronics developed the now-familiar printer parallel port that soon became a de facto standard...

connections.
Most Office MFPs have their history in mid range photocopier

Photocopier

A photocopier is a machine that makes paper copies of documents and other visual images quickly and cheaply. Most current photocopiers use a technology called xerography, a dry process using heat...

s (both colour and black and white), and the print engine is therefore based around this type of technology, however, Hewlett-Packard

Hewlett-Packard

recently introduced two Office MFPs based on fixed head Inkjet technology.

Production printing MFP

A large sized freestanding unit, designed as a central printing device or reprographic department device.

These devices, while far larger and more expensive than Office MFPs, generally do not have all of the advanced network functionality of their smaller relations. They instead concentrate on high speed, high quality output, and highly advanced finishing functionality including book creation with cover insertion (including hot-glue binding) and so on. Production Printing itself is often further divided in to "light" production printing and "heavy" production printing, with the differentiating factor being the speed. A 100ppm device for example, falls in to the light Production Printing category by the standards of most manufacturers.

Because of the focus on printing, while most Production Printing MFPs have a scanner, it is infrequently used and often only has very basic functionality.

There are a variety of different print engines for Production Printing MFPs, however in the "light" end of the Production Printing market, most are based on the large Office MFPs, which themselves are based on photocopier

Photocopier

A photocopier is a machine that makes paper copies of documents and other visual images quickly and cheaply. Most current photocopiers use a technology called xerography, a dry process using heat...

technology as described above.

Production Printing MFPs may also be known as "Print on Demand

Print on demand

Print on demand , sometimes called, in error, publish on demand, is a printing technology and business process in which new copies of a book are not printed until an order has been received...

" devices, or "Digital presses". This latter term can also be used to refer to the print controller controlling the MFP however.

Characteristics

It is useful to consider the features and functions of an MFP before integrating it in to a home or office environment. It is possible to have an MFP with almost all of the features and functions listed below, however a typical AIO or SOHO MFP is unlikely to incorporate many of these.

An (incomplete) list of features that an MFP may offer or will vary depending on the MFP under consideration (in any segment):

Print features/functions

Input
- Printer driver
  Printer driver
  In computers, a printer driver or a print processor is a piece of software that converts the data to be printed to the form specific to a printer...
  
  s available for different operating systems
- PDL
  Page description language
  A page description language is a language that describes the appearance of a printed page in a higher level than an actual output bitmap. An overlapping term is printer control language, but it should not be confused as referring solely to Hewlett-Packard's PCL...
  
  s (PostScript
  PostScript
  PostScript is a dynamically typed concatenative programming language created by John Warnock and Charles Geschke in 1982. It is best known for its use as a page description language in the electronic and desktop publishing areas. Adobe PostScript 3 is also the worldwide printing and imaging...
  
  , PCL
  Printer Command Language
  Printer Command Language, more commonly referred to as PCL, is a page description language developed by Hewlett-Packard as a printer protocol and has become a de facto industry standard. Originally developed for early inkjet printers in 1984, PCL has been released in varying levels for thermal,...
  
  , XPS
  XML Paper Specification
  Open XML Paper Specification , is an open specification for a page description language and a fixed-document format originally developed by Microsoft as XML Paper Specification that was later standardized by Ecma International as international standard ECMA-388...
  
  etc.) and direct interpreters (PDF, TIFF, etc.) supported
- Network, USB, Parallel or other connection types
- Network print types available (Raw, LPR
  Line Printer Daemon protocol
  The Line Printer Daemon protocol/Line Printer Remote protocol is a network protocol for submitting print jobs to a remote printer. The original implementation of LPD was in the Berkeley printing system in the BSD UNIX operating system; the LPRng project also supports that protocol...
  
  , IPP
  Internet Printing Protocol
  In computing, the Internet Printing Protocol provides a standard network protocol for remote printing as well as for managing print jobs, media size, resolution, and so forth....
  
  , FTP printing, print via email
  Email
  Electronic mail, commonly known as email or e-mail, is a method of exchanging digital messages from an author to one or more recipients. Modern email operates across the Internet or other computer networks. Some early email systems required that the author and the recipient both be online at the...
  
  etc.)
Output
- Printing speed (typically given in pages per minute or ppm)
- Printer technology (e.g. InkJet
  Inkjet printer
  An inkjet printer is a type of computer printer that creates a digital image by propelling droplets of ink onto paper. Inkjet printers are the most commonly used type of printer and range from small inexpensive consumer models to very large professional machines that can cost up to thousands of...
  
  /Laser
  Laser printer
  A laser printer is a common type of computer printer that rapidly produces high quality text and graphics on plain paper. As with digital photocopiers and multifunction printers , laser printers employ a xerographic printing process, but differ from analog photocopiers in that the image is produced...
  
  /Color Laser)
- Paper formats (what kind of paper sizes and stocks the MFP can output)
- Direct CD/DVD Label Printing (usually only available on some InkJet
  Inkjet printer
  An inkjet printer is a type of computer printer that creates a digital image by propelling droplets of ink onto paper. Inkjet printers are the most commonly used type of printer and range from small inexpensive consumer models to very large professional machines that can cost up to thousands of...
  
  AIO models)
- Resolution DPI
  Dots per inch
  Dots per inch is a measure of spatial printing or video dot density, in particular the number of individual dots that can be placed in a line within the span of 1 inch . The DPI value tends to correlate with image resolution, but is related only indirectly.- DPI measurement in monitor...
  
  - this is an important metric for both printing and scanning quality. (Note that print DPI is rarely greater than 600dpi actual. Some MFPs use a system similar to sub-pixel rendering on computer displays to give "enhanced" resolutions of 1200x600 or 1800x600, however it is important to note that this is not a true resolution)
- Duplex printing
  Duplex printing
  Duplex printing is a feature of computer printers and multifunction printers that allows the automatic printing of a sheet of paper on both sides...
  
  capability - Whether the MFP can print on both sides of a sheet of paper without manual intervention by the user.
- Ability to print directly to the MFPs internal storage function
- Capability of using the MFPs finishing functions (see below under Copy features/functions)

Scan features/functions

Input
- Automatic Document Feeder
  Automatic Document Feeder
  In multifunction or all-in-one printers, fax machines, photocopiers and scanners, an automatic document feeder or ADF is a feature which takes several pages and feeds the paper one page at a time into a scanner or copier, allowing the user to scan, and thereby copy, print, or fax, multiple-page...
  
  (ADF) - this allows multiple sheets of paper to be input without manually placing each piece of paper on the platen glass.
- Duplex scanning
  Duplex scanning
  Duplex scanning is a feature of computer scanners and multifunction printers that allows the automatic scanning of a sheet of paper on both sides. Devices without this capability can only scan a single side of a sheet of paper at a time....
  
  capability (depends on the ADF) - Whether the MFP can scan both ides of a sheet of paper without manual intervention by the user.
- Ability to retrieve a document from internal storage and send it as if it was a new "scan"
Output
- Scan transfer methods available (e.g. FTP, WebDAV
  WebDAV
  Web-based Distributed Authoring and Versioning is a set of methods based on the Hypertext Transfer Protocol that facilitates collaboration between users in editing and managing documents and files stored on World Wide Web servers...
  
  , Email
  Email
  Electronic mail, commonly known as email or e-mail, is a method of exchanging digital messages from an author to one or more recipients. Modern email operates across the Internet or other computer networks. Some early email systems required that the author and the recipient both be online at the...
  
  , SMB
  Server Message Block
  In computer networking, Server Message Block , also known as Common Internet File System operates as an application-layer network protocol mainly used to provide shared access to files, printers, serial ports, and miscellaneous communications between nodes on a network. It also provides an...
  
  , NFS, TWAIN
  TWAIN
  TWAIN is a standard software protocol and applications programming interface that regulates communication between software applications and imaging devices such as scanners and digital cameras....
  
  )
- Scan file formats available (e.g. PDF, TIFF, JPEG
  JPEG
  In computing, JPEG . The degree of compression can be adjusted, allowing a selectable tradeoff between storage size and image quality. JPEG typically achieves 10:1 compression with little perceptible loss in image quality....
  
  , XPS
  XML Paper Specification
  Open XML Paper Specification , is an open specification for a page description language and a fixed-document format originally developed by Microsoft as XML Paper Specification that was later standardized by Ecma International as international standard ECMA-388...
  
  , etc.)
- Security of scanned documents - such as PDF encryption, digital signature
  Digital signature
  A digital signature or digital signature scheme is a mathematical scheme for demonstrating the authenticity of a digital message or document. A valid digital signature gives a recipient reason to believe that the message was created by a known sender, and that it was not altered in transit...
  
  s and so on.

Fax features/functions

Cordless telephone
Cordless telephone
A cordless telephone or portable telephone is a telephone with a wireless handset that communicates via radio waves with a base station connected to a fixed telephone line, usually within a limited range of its base station...

(generally only a consideration for AIO or smaller SOHO products)
Answering machine
Answering machine
The answering machine or message machine, also known as the telephone answering machine in the UK and some Commonwealth countries) and previously known as an ansaphone, ansafone, or telephone answering device is a device for answering telephones and recording callers' messages.Unlike voicemail,...
Color Fax capability
TCP
Transmission Control Protocol
The Transmission Control Protocol is one of the core protocols of the Internet Protocol Suite. TCP is one of the two original components of the suite, complementing the Internet Protocol , and therefore the entire suite is commonly referred to as TCP/IP...

/IP
Internet Protocol
The Internet Protocol is the principal communications protocol used for relaying datagrams across an internetwork using the Internet Protocol Suite...

Fax methods such as SIP Fax (Fax over IP), Network Fax (via SMTP), Internet Fax and so on
PC Fax send and receive capability

Copy features/functions

Document Finishing capabilities
- Duplex output
- Stapling
  - Single point
  - Two point
  - Staple positioning
- Holepunching
  - International standard ISO 838 2-hole
  - US 3-hole
  - "888" 4-hole
  - Swedish "triohålning" 4-hole
- Folding
  - Half fold / crease
  - Fold and centre staple (for Booklet pagination)
  - Cover insertion for booklets
  - Cover binding (generally only available on production printing models) - differs from "cover insertion", in that a cover is physically bound to the book instead of simply placing it around the other pages. Cover binding often uses hot glue to bind the cover to the finished book.
  - Trimming for folded documents to avoid "creep"
  - Tri-fold / Envelope-folding
Document editing modes
- n-in-one (2 in 1, 4 in 1 etc.)
- Booklet pagination / "perfect binding" booklet pagination
- Page numbering / text & image stamping / watermarking
- Image scaling / rotation
Plus, see items under "Print features/functions" output and "Scan features/functions" input

Document storage features/functions

Documents storage capability the MFP
Storage (HDD) capacity
User authentication for the stored document, and any relationship to the user authentication of the MFP (e.g. Network authentication with a server or custom software, internal only, etc.)

Network features/functions

Wireless network capability
Active Directory
Active Directory
Active Directory is a directory service created by Microsoft for Windows domain networks. It is included in most Windows Server operating systems. Server computers on which Active Directory is running are called domain controllers....

or other authentication functionality
Data encryption
IPv6
IPv6
Internet Protocol version 6 is a version of the Internet Protocol . It is designed to succeed the Internet Protocol version 4...

support
SNMP
Simple Network Management Protocol
Simple Network Management Protocol is an "Internet-standard protocol for managing devices on IP networks. Devices that typically support SNMP include routers, switches, servers, workstations, printers, modem racks, and more." It is used mostly in network management systems to monitor...

support - both private and public MIB
Management information base
A management information base is a virtual database used for managing the entities in a communications network. Most often associated with the Simple Network Management Protocol , the term is also used more generically in contexts such as in OSI/ISO Network management model...

specifications

Other features/functions

Software - Many MFPs support advanced functionality through third party software such as optical character recognition
Optical character recognition
Optical character recognition, usually abbreviated to OCR, is the mechanical or electronic translation of scanned images of handwritten, typewritten or printed text into machine-encoded text. It is widely used to convert books and documents into electronic files, to computerize a record-keeping...

. In some cases, these software components are not specific to the MFP being used, however it is important to determine this, as in other cases proprietary technologies are used that effectively tie the software to the platform.
SDK availability and licensing model
User interface - By their nature, MFPs are complex devices. Many MFPs now include LCD screens and other user interface aids. Generally, AIO and SOHO products contain simple LCD displays, while Office MFPs contain advanced LCD panels resembling a custom computer-like user interface (some MFPs also offer optional keyboard
Keyboard (computing)
In computing, a keyboard is a typewriter-style keyboard, which uses an arrangement of buttons or keys, to act as mechanical levers or electronic switches...

and mouse
Mouse (computing)
In computing, a mouse is a pointing device that functions by detecting two-dimensional motion relative to its supporting surface. Physically, a mouse consists of an object held under one of the user's hands, with one or more buttons...

attachments).

Hardware

MFPs, like most external computer peripherals that are capable of functioning without the computer, are essentially a type of computer

Computer

A computer is a programmable machine designed to sequentially and automatically carry out a sequence of arithmetic or logical operations. The particular sequence of operations can be changed readily, allowing the computer to solve more than one kind of problem...

themselves. They contain memory

Ram

-Animals:*Ram, an uncastrated male sheep*Ram cichlid, a species of freshwater fish endemic to Colombia and Venezuela-Military:*Battering ram*Ramming, a military tactic in which one vehicle runs into another...

, one or more processors, and often some kind of local storage, such as a hard disk drive or flash memory

Flash memory

Flash memory is a non-volatile computer storage chip that can be electrically erased and reprogrammed. It was developed from EEPROM and must be erased in fairly large blocks before these can be rewritten with new data...

.

As mentioned in the Types of MFP section, the physical print engine may be based on several technologies, however most larger MFPs are an evolution of a digital photocopier

Photocopier

A photocopier is a machine that makes paper copies of documents and other visual images quickly and cheaply. Most current photocopiers use a technology called xerography, a dry process using heat...

Security

When getting rid of old printers with local storage, one should keep in mind that confidential documents (print

Print job

In computing, a print job is a file or set of files that has been submitted to be printed.Jobs are typically identified by a unique number, and are assigned to a particular destination, usually a printer...

, scan

Image scanner

In computing, an image scanner—often abbreviated to just scanner—is a device that optically scans images, printed text, handwriting, or an object, and converts it to a digital image. Common examples found in offices are variations of the desktop scanner where the document is placed on a glass...

, copy

Photocopier

A photocopier is a machine that makes paper copies of documents and other visual images quickly and cheaply. Most current photocopiers use a technology called xerography, a dry process using heat...

jobs) are potentially still unencrypted on the local storage and can be undeleted

Undeletion

Undeletion is a feature for restoring computer files which have been removed from a file system by file deletion. Deleted data can be recovered on many file systems, but not all file systems provide an undeletion feature. Recovering data without an undeletion facility is usually called data...

Software

MFPs also run a set of instructions from their internal storage, which is comparable to a computer's operating system

Operating system

An operating system is a set of programs that manage computer hardware resources and provide common services for application software. The operating system is the most important type of system software in a computer system...

.

Generally, as the size and complexity of an MFP increases, the more like a computer the device becomes. It is uncommon for a small AIO or even a SOHO MFP to use a general purpose operating system

Operating system

, however many larger MFPs run Linux

Linux

Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...

or VxWorks

VxWorks

VxWorks is a real-time operating system developed as proprietary software by Wind River Systems of Alameda, California, USA. First released in 1987, VxWorks is designed for use in embedded systems.- History :...

.

Additionally, many print controllers, separate, but integral to the MFP, also run computer operating system

Operating system

s, with GNU/Linux

Linux

and Microsoft Windows

Microsoft Windows

Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...

(often Windows NT 4.0 Embedded, Windows XP Embedded).

On top of the core operating system

Operating system

and firmware

Firmware

In electronic systems and computing, firmware is a term often used to denote the fixed, usually rather small, programs and/or data structures that internally control various electronic devices...

, the MFP will also provide several functions, equivalent to applications

Application software

Application software, also known as an application or an "app", is computer software designed to help the user to perform specific tasks. Examples include enterprise software, accounting software, office suites, graphics software and media players. Many application programs deal principally with...

or in some cases daemons

Daemon (computer software)

In Unix and other multitasking computer operating systems, a daemon is a computer program that runs as a background process, rather than being under the direct control of an interactive user...

or services

Windows Service

On Microsoft Windows operating systems, a Windows service is a long-running executable that performs specific functions and which is designed not to require user intervention. Windows services can be configured to start when the operating system is booted and run in the background as long as...

.

These functions may include (amongst many others):

MFP Panel control for user input
Bytecode
Bytecode
Bytecode, also known as p-code , is a term which has been used to denote various forms of instruction sets designed for efficient execution by a software interpreter as well as being suitable for further compilation into machine code...

interpreters or virtual machine
Virtual machine
A virtual machine is a "completely isolated guest operating system installation within a normal host operating system". Modern virtual machines are implemented with either software emulation or hardware virtualization or both together.-VM Definitions:A virtual machine is a software...

s for internally hosted third party applications
Web server
Web server
Web server can refer to either the hardware or the software that helps to deliver content that can be accessed through the Internet....

for remote management functions
Network service clients
Client (computing)
A client is an application or system that accesses a service made available by a server. The server is often on another computer system, in which case the client accesses the service by way of a network....

for sending of documents to different destinations
Network service servers
Server (computing)
In the context of client-server architecture, a server is a computer program running to serve the requests of other programs, the "clients". Thus, the "server" performs some computational task on behalf of "clients"...

for receiving documents for print or storage
Image conversion and processing functions
Raster image processing functions (although, often this task is handled by a separate print controller unit instead)

Software

Computer systems equipped with the proper software must be able to take advantage of the MFP's capabilities, an important requirement to research when considering integrating an MFP with an existing office. Some or all of the following functionality might be provided:

Device administration and configuration
Monitoring of print quotas, toner/ink levels etc.
Document type/paper input mode selection
Document imaging
Document imaging
Document imaging is an information technology category for systems capable of replicating documents commonly used in business. Document imaging systems can take many forms including microfilm, on demand printers, facsimile machines, copiers, multifunction printers, document scanners, computer...

, such as ad hoc scanning
Document management
Document management system
A document management system is a computer system used to track and store electronic documents and/or images of paper documents. It is usually also capable of keeping track of the different versions created by different users . The term has some overlap with the concepts of content management...

such as remote scanning, document type conversion from text to PDF, OCR
Optical character recognition
Optical character recognition, usually abbreviated to OCR, is the mechanical or electronic translation of scanned images of handwritten, typewritten or printed text into machine-encoded text. It is widely used to convert books and documents into electronic files, to computerize a record-keeping...

, etc.

Software development kits

In addition to specific software packages, many vendors also provide the ability for the user to develop software to communicate with the MFP through a Software Development Kit

Software development kit

. Different vendors have different licensing models, from completely "closed" proprietary systems (often with large costs involved) to open strategies with no direct cost involved.
An incomplete list of these technologies is:

Canon MEAP (Multifunctional Embedded Application Platform)
Konica Minolta OpenAPI
Konica Minolta OpenAPI
Konica Minolta OpenAPI is a proprietary API communication system that allows software application developers to create applications that communicate with Konica Minolta MFPs.-Technology:...
ABBYY FineReader Engine
Sharp OSA (Open Systems Architecture)
Xerox EIP (Extensible Interface Platform)
Samsung J-Scribe
HP Open Extensibility Platform (OXP)
HP Open Extensibility Platform (OXP)
HP Open Extensibility Platform , developed by Hewlett-Packard Co., is an enterprise software development platform that consists of three unique layers...
Ricoh’s Device SDK

In general, these technologies fall in to one of two technical models - Server based, or MFP internal software.

Server based technologies use a method to communicate information to and from the MFP (often SOAP

SOAP

SOAP, originally defined as Simple Object Access Protocol, is a protocol specification for exchanging structured information in the implementation of Web Services in computer networks...

/XML

XML

Extensible Markup Language is a set of rules for encoding documents in machine-readable form. It is defined in the XML 1.0 Specification produced by the W3C, and several other related specifications, all gratis open standards....

based), running the operating code on a suitably powered computer on the network. This method has the advantage of being very flexible, in that the software is free to do anything that the developer can make the computer do. The only limit from the MFP itself is the capability of the MFP to display a user interface to the workings of the application. As many of the applications are based around custom printing, scanning and authentication requirements, the MFP manufacturers that use this method gravitate towards these core technologies in the user interface.

MFP internal software, by comparison, has the advantage of not requiring anything outside of the MFP. The software runs within the MFP itself and so even a complete network outage will not disrupt the software from working (unless of course the software requires a network connection for other reasons). MFP internal software is often, but not always, Java

Java (programming language)

Java is a programming language originally developed by James Gosling at Sun Microsystems and released in 1995 as a core component of Sun Microsystems' Java platform. The language derives much of its syntax from C and C++ but has a simpler object model and fewer low-level facilities...

based and runs in a Java Virtual Machine

Java Virtual Machine

A Java virtual machine is a virtual machine capable of executing Java bytecode. It is the code execution component of the Java software platform. Sun Microsystems stated that there are over 4.5 billion JVM-enabled devices.-Overview:...

within the MFP. The negative side to this kind of software is usually that it is much more limited in capabilities than Server based systems.

Manufacturers

MFP manufacturers/brands include

Brother
Brother Industries
is a diversified Japanese company that produces or imports a wide variety of products including printers, sewing machines, large machine tools, label printers, and typewriters, fax machines, and other computer-related electronics. It markets its multifunction printers as Multi-Function Centers...
Canon
Canon Inc.
is a Japanese multinational corporation that specialises in the manufacture of imaging and optical products, including cameras, camcorders, photocopiers, steppers and computer printers. Its headquarters are located in Ōta, Tokyo, Japan.-Origins:...
Dell
Epson
Hewlett-Packard
Hewlett-Packard
Hewlett-Packard Company or HP is an American multinational information technology corporation headquartered in Palo Alto, California, USA that provides products, technologies, softwares, solutions and services to consumers, small- and medium-sized businesses and large enterprises, including...
Kodak
Konica Minolta
Konica Minolta
is a Japanese manufacturer of office equipment, medical imaging, graphic imaging, optical devices, and measuring instruments. It is headquartered in the Marunouchi Center Building in Marunouchi, Chiyoda, Tokyo, with a Kansai office in Nishi-ku, Osaka, Osaka Prefecture...
Kyocera
Kyocera
is a multinational manufacturer based in Kyoto, Japan. It was founded as in 1959 by Kazuo Inamori and renamed in 1982. The company has diversified its founding technology in ceramic materials through internal development as well as strategic mergers and acquisitions...
Lexmark
Lexmark
Lexmark International, Inc. is an American corporation which develops and manufactures printing and imaging products, including laser and inkjet printers, multifunction products, printing supplies, and services for business and individual consumers...
Oce
Océ
Océ N.V. is a Netherlands-based company that develops, manufactures and sells printing and copying hardware and related software. The offering includes office printing and copying systems; production printers and wide format printing systems for both technical documentation and color display...
Okidata
Olivetti
Olivetti
Olivetti S.p.A. is an Italian manufacturer of computers, printers and other business machines.- Founding :The company was founded as a typewriter manufacturer in 1908 in Ivrea, near Turin, by Camillo Olivetti. The firm was mainly developed by his son Adriano Olivetti...
Ricoh
Ricoh
or Ricoh, is a Japanese company that was established in 1936 on February 6th, as , a company in the RIKEN zaibatsu. Its headquarters is located in Ricoh Building in Chūō, Tokyo....
Samsung
Samsung Electronics
Samsung Electronics is a South Korean multinational electronics and information technology company headquartered in Samsung Town, Seoul...
Sharp
Sharp Corporation
is a Japanese multinational corporation that designs and manufactures electronic products. Headquartered in Abeno-ku, Osaka, Japan, Sharp employs more than 55,580 people worldwide as of June 2011. The company was founded in September 1912 and takes its name from one of its founder's first...
Toshiba
Toshiba
is a multinational electronics and electrical equipment corporation headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. It is a diversified manufacturer and marketer of electrical products, spanning information & communications equipment and systems, Internet-based solutions and services, electronic components and...
Xerox
Xerox
Xerox Corporation is an American multinational document management corporation that produced and sells a range of color and black-and-white printers, multifunction systems, photo copiers, digital production printing presses, and related consulting services and supplies...

Note that not all of these manufacturers produce all types of MFP - some may only focus on AIO products, whilst others may only focus on Production Printing, while yet more may cover a wider range.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

Types of MFPs

AIO

SOHO MFP

Office MFP

Production printing MFP

Characteristics

Print features/functions

Scan features/functions

Fax features/functions

Copy features/functions

Document storage features/functions

Network features/functions

Other features/functions

Hardware

Security

Software

Software

Software development kits

Manufacturers

See also

External links