How We Test Multifunction Printers

Our jury-based testing evaluates MFPs using real-world applications.

Dennis O'Reilly

We tested all multifunction printers in the PC World Test Center for printing, scanning, and copying speed and quality.

The printer tests consisted of generating a three-page black-and-white newsletter, a ten-page black-and-white text document, a grayscale photo, a two-page Excel spreadsheet, a three-page PowerPoint presentation, and a color JPEG photo at default settings. Only inkjet MFPs printed in color; laser MFPs converted the color documents to grayscale.

The scanner tests consisted of scanning a 2-by-2-inch color photo at maximum resolution and maximum bit depth; a 2-by-2-inch color photo at 600 dpi and 24-bit depth; a 4-by-5-inch color photo at 100 dpi and 24-bit depth; a one-page, black-and-white text document at 300 dpi and 1-bit depth; and a 7.5-by-10.5-inch black-and-white line-art image at maximum resolution and 1-bit depth.

The copier tests involved copying a single black-and-white page.

A panel of judges rated the quality of each MFP's output, using criteria adapted from PC World's printer and scanner tests. We measured printer times from the execution of the command until the job was completed. Scanner times covered both the preview time and the scan time, yielding a total time for each job. For printing the image on an inkjet-based MFP, we used vendor-specified optimal-quality settings and vendor-specified paper. On a laser-based MFP, we used vendor-specified settings and then printed the image on stock paper. For black-and-white printing, we put the laser-based MFPs at "best print quality" settings.

To print the text documents, we used Microsoft Word 11 with default settings. To open and print the JPEG image, we used Photoshop CS.

We tested printer and scan functions on a pair of identically configured 2.8-GHz MPC Pentium 4 systems with 512MB of RAM. Each multifunction printer connected to the PC via a USB 2.0 port. To evaluate each MFP's scan quality, we printed the scanned color and black-and-white images on a Canon i455 inkjet printer and an HP LaserJet 1200 printer, respectively; we had the i455 output the images using high-quality settings and glossy paper. We also reviewed the scanned images on screen, using a pair of Panasonic PanaSync Pro P110i 21-inch CRT monitors.