Patent ID: 6266079
Filing Date: 2001-07-24
Classification: G06K,H04N

Abstract:
A method for rendering an electrically input image on a medium by a marking device that is operative, in response to, and synchronous with, drive pulses applied thereto, to selectively mark dots on the medium, each dot uniquely corresponding to an applied drive pulse, contiguous marked dots forming marked areas and any dot in a marked area that is adjacent to an unmarked area being a boundary dot, at least a portion of the rendered image being a half-tone image, contiguous marked areas therein forming half-tone spots within screen cells, the method comprising:defining over the plane of the image a raster of regularly spaced grid lines and, along each line, a pattern of grid points, spaced at a constant pitch,applying drive pulses to the device, for marking dots on the medium, each dot to be uniquely associated with one of said grid points, the pulses being timed so that the center of at least one boundary dot is essentially displaced from its associated grid point and so that the centers of all dots within a marked area that are not boundary dots lie essentially at corresponding grid points, the direction and magnitude of displacement of any of said at least one boundary dot being determined so as to at least partially affect the shape of the corresponding half-tone spot.