Centronics An Wang, Robert Howard and Prentice Robinson began development of a low-cost printer at Centronics, a subsidiary of Wang Laboratories that produced specialty computer terminals. The printer used the dot matrix printing principle, with a print head consisting of a vertical row of seven metal pins connected to solenoids. When power was applied to the solenoids, the pin was pushed forward to strike the paper and leave a dot. To make a complete character glyph, the print head would receive power to specified pins to create a single vertical pattern, then the print head would move to the right by a small amount, and the process repeated. On their original design, a typical glyph was printed as a matrix seven high and five wide, while the "A" models used a print head with 9 pins and formed glyphs that were 9 by 7.
Centronics An Wang, Robert Howard and Prentice Robinson began development of a low-cost printer at Centronics, a subsidiary of Wang Laboratories that produced specialty computer terminals. The printer used the dot matrix printing principle, with a print head consisting of a vertical row of seven metal pins connected to solenoids. When power was applied to the solenoids, the pin was pushed forward to strike the paper and leave a dot To make a complete character glyph, the print head would receive power to specified pins to create a single vertical pattern, then the print head would move to the right by a small amount, and the process repeated. On their original design, a typical glyph was printed as a matrix seven high and five wide, while the "A" models used a print head with 9 pins and formed glyphs that were 9 by 7.