Parallel port facts for kids
The parallel port (also known as a printer port or Centronics port) is a type of interface found on computers for connecting various peripherals. A parallel port is a type of interface found on computers (personal and otherwise) for connecting peripherals.
In computing, a parallel port is a parallel communication physical interface. It was a de facto industry standard for many years, and was finally standardized as IEEE 1284 in the late 1990s, which defined a bi-directional version of the port.
Today, the parallel port interface is seeing decreasing use because of the rise of Universal Serial Bus (USB) and FireWire (IEEE 1394) devices, along with network printing using Ethernet.
The parallel port interface was originally known as the Parallel Printer Adapter on IBM PC-compatible computers. It was primarily designed to operate a line printer that used IBM's 8-bit extended ASCII character set to print text, but could also be used to adapt other peripherals. Graphical printers, along with a host of other devices, have been designed to communicate with the system.
Images for kids
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Micro ribbon 36-pin female, such as on printers and on some computers, particularly industrial equipment and early (pre-1980s) personal computers.
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Mini-Centronics 36-pin male connector (top) with Micro ribbon 36-pin male Centronics connector (bottom)
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The Apple II Parallel Printer Port connected to the printer via a folded ribbon cable; one end connected to the connector at the top of the card, and the other end had a 36-pin Centronics connector.
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HP C4381A CD-Writer Plus 7200 Series, showing parallel ports to connect between a printer and the computer.
See also
In Spanish: Puerto paralelo para niños
