Patent ID: 8046236

Claim:
Apparatus for producing a data stream, which comprises a multitude of raster points as reference points, the raster points specifying a raster, two adjacent raster points defining a segment, of code words of variable lengths which are divided up into a plurality of sets of code words, the apparatus comprising: a first device for writing at least a part of each code word of a first set of code words into the data stream in a first direction of writing, starting at a first raster point of a segment, respectively; a second device for writing at least a part of a code word of a second set of code words into the data stream in a second direction of writing, which is opposite to the first direction of writing, starting from a second raster point, respectively, the code words of the second set being assigned to segments in accordance with a predetermined assignment rule, such that each code word of the second set is assigned to a different segment, wherein, in case that a code word of the second set does not or not completely fit into the assigned segment, at least a part of this code word or at least a part of the remainder of this code word which does not fit into the assigned segment is written into a different, not fully occupied segment, in accordance with a predetermined rule, by the first device or the second device, after the second device for writing has processed all remaining segments with the other code words of the second set.