The Power of Four: The Industry’s First Quad-Core CPU Printer

While quad-core processors can already be found in smartphones, tablets and laptops, Samsung Printing Solutions recently introduced the industry’s first printer with a quad-core CPU, the MultiXpress 7 (MX7) multifunctional printer.

Dubbed the “Office Transformer,” the MX7 is the most recent Samsung printer to feature world-first technology. The addition of the quad-core CPU is the latest in a series of innovations that Samsung has pursued, with the goal of implementing advanced technology into printers that can benefit its customers.

For the last few years, Samsung has been using System on Chip technology, an all-in-one microchip that has all the components required for a computer processor. Samsung introduced the world’s first dual-core printer in 2012, and took leadership in the industry again with the MultiXpress 7 (MX7). With the MX7, users from a broad range of industries that have a high monthly print volume will experience a much higher level of performance and consistency, with speeds two times faster than conventional multifunctional printers with a dual-core CPU.

4 Cores in a CPU ≠ 4 CPUs

When consumers see the quad-core mark on other electronics they have come to expect a high level of performance. Samsung Printing Solutions wanted to raise the bar in the printer industry as well, and give the same level of performance and expectation to its clients.

A quad-core chip may look like a single chip, but it actually has four physical central processing units. Each core operates as its own discrete processor, but acts in concert with the other three to boost efficiency and power.

To fully appreciate the benefits of quad-core CPUs, consider the difference between having one Cortex A-15 1.5 GHz CPU with four cores, and four independent single-core CPUs. In a nutshell, four cores working together in one give you better collaboration and a higher rate of efficiency in one unit. Four cores working together can also share resources during peak demand, coordinating to shoulder the burden when users execute multiple processes at once. This makes for faster and more efficient processing, while also preventing device overload.

In a quad-core CPU, each core is assigned different functions and tasks are automatically distributed. In a printer, for example, all the various print processing jobs — transferring electronic signals to printing signals, UI control, XOA, image processing, faxing — are all automatically distributed among the cores. The result is two times faster processing than a conventional multifunctional printer with a dual-core processor.

The MX7 uses its quad-core CPU to deliver high performance and consistency to users who may have experienced real performance problems when printing document types such as PowerPoint, Word and PDF.

Fast Image Processing and Eco-Friendly Features

The benefits multiply when you add Samsung’s unique image processing technology, ReCP (Rendering Engine for Clean Pages). ReCP logics are built right into the quad-core CPU, minimizing the extra time needed to run a separate program to process the images.

The result is faster and more accurate printing and scanning speeds. Also, users will get cleaner and sharper documents because the technology prevents white gaps and color spread in text caused by mechanical inaccuracy. Regardless of the industry, professionals will get the high-quality output they need for everything from basic prints to full color photos, business graphics, CAD and web-pages.

Also, the System on Chip enables eco-friendly printing by virtue of also having a low-power CPU on board. The low-power chip monitors all the electronic signals and turns off the power to the main quad-core CPU when the printer is in power save mode. Even with the main CPU powered off, the low power CPU can process the work with exceptional speed.

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