Editing Dot matrix printing (section)

===DEC===
{{Main|DECwriter}}
Unlike the [[#LA30|LA30]]'s 80-column, uppercase-only 5 x 7 dot matrix, DEC's product line grew. New models included:
* LA36 (1974): supported upper and lower case, with up to 132 columns of text (also 30 CPS)
* LA34: a lower-cost alternative to the LA36
* LA38: an LA34 with more features
* LA180: 180 CPS
* LS120: 120 CPS
* LA120: 180 CPS (and some advanced features)
* LA12: a portable terminal – the [[DECwriter#DECwriter Correspondent|DECwriter Correspondent]]<ref>{{cite magazine |title=DEC Introduces New 'Correspondent' |date=April 1982 |magazine=Hardcopy |page=13}}</ref>

====LA30====
The DECwriter LA30 was a 30 character per second dot matrix [[printing terminal]] introduced in 1970 by [[Digital Equipment Corporation]] (DEC) of [[Maynard, Massachusetts]]<ref>{{cite book |title=PDP-11 Processor Handbook |date=1973 |publisher=[[Digital Press]], [[Digital Equipment Corporation]] (DEC) |pages=1–4 |quote=Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) designs and manufacturers many of the peripheral devices offered with PDP-11's. As a designer and manufacturer of peripherals, DEC can offer extremely reliable equipment... The LA30 DECwriter, a totally DEC-designed and built teleprinter, can serve as an alternative to the Teletype.}}</ref>

It printed 80 columns of uppercase-only 7 × 5 [[dot matrix]] characters across a unique-sized paper. The printhead was driven by a [[stepper motor]] and the paper was advanced by a noisy [[solenoid]] [[ratchet (device)|ratchet]] drive. The LA30 was available with both a [[parallel interface]] (LA30-P) and a [[serial interface]] (LA30-S); however, the serial LA30 required the use of [[fill character]]s during the carriage-return. In 1972, a receive-only variation named LA30A became available.

====LA36====
The LA30 was followed in 1974 by the LA36,<ref>{{cite web |title=The DEC LA36 Dot Matrix Printer Made Business Printing Faster |url=https://biztechmagazine.com/article/2017/03/dec-la36-dot-matrix-printer-made-business-printing-faster-and-more-efficient |access-date=2018-10-18 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181018122252/https://biztechmagazine.com/article/2017/03/dec-la36-dot-matrix-printer-made-business-printing-faster-and-more-efficient |archive-date=2018-10-18 |quote=DEC brought the LA36 to market in 1974}}</ref> which achieved far greater commercial success,<ref name="UK2">{{cite web |title=Digital DECWriter II |website=ComputingHistory.org.uk |url=https://www.computinghistory.org.uk/det/3367/Digital-DECWriter-II |access-date=2018-10-18 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181018122258/http://www.computinghistory.org.uk/det/3367/Digital-DECWriter-II |archive-date=2018-10-18 |quote=The LA36 DECwriter II was the companys first commercially successful ... The printer mechanism uses a dot-matrix technique to print 132 columns of text across standard 14 inch computer forms}}</ref> becoming for a time the standard dot matrix computer terminal. The LA36 used the same print head as the LA30 but could print on forms of any width up to 132 columns of mixed-case output on standard [[line printer#green bar paper|green bar fanfold paper]].<ref name="UK2"/> The carriage was moved by a much-more-capable [[servo drive]] using a [[DC electric motor]] and an optical encoder / [[tachometer]]. The paper was moved by a stepper motor. The LA36 was only available with a serial interface but unlike the earlier LA30, no fill characters were required. This was possible because, while the printer never communicated at faster than 30 characters per second, the mechanism was actually capable of printing at 60 characters per second. During the carriage return period, characters were ''buffered'' for subsequent printing at full speed during a catch-up period. The two-tone buzz produced by 60-character-per-second catch-up printing followed by 30-character-per-second ordinary printing was a distinctive feature of the LA36, quickly copied by many other manufacturers well into the 1990s. Most efficient dot matrix printers used this buffering technique.

Digital technology later broadened the basic LA36 line into a wide variety of dot matrix printers.

====LA50====
The DEC LA50 was designed to be a "compact, dot matrix"<ref name="MAN50"/> printer. When in graphic mode (as opposed to text mode), the printhead can generate graphic images. When in ([[bitmap]]) graphics mode, the LA50 can receive and print [[Sixel]]{{efn|short for "six pixels:" a pattern six [[pixel]]s high and one wide, resulting in 64 possible patterns.}} graphics format.
[[File:Sixel Wikipedia logo.png|thumb|The Wikipedia logo, converted to [[Sixel]] format]]