What Is a Printer Port?
A printer port, also known as a parallel port, is a hardware interface that hooks up peripheral devices, such as printers, to a central computer system. Printer ports were originally used to attach many different types of external devices to a computer, although the technology has largely been replaced by the universal serial bus or USB. Before the invention of USB devices, the printer port was the premier form of parallel data transmission to peripheral components. The development of parallel transmission was a major step forward in the early days of the computer industry. Before devices like printer ports were common, many external devices operated through serial links, which could only transmit one bit of data at a time. Serial technology also sometimes required an additional adapter to connect a computer to a printer or other external device. A printer port using parallel transmission works faster by passing multiple pieces of information between devices using parallel channels. Ad
