Patent ID: 7841682

Claim:
An image forming apparatus comprising: a carriage carrying a recording head configured to discharge a droplet; a pattern forming unit configured to form a landing position error detecting pattern on a pattern forming member; a reading unit mounted on the carriage and configured to read the landing position error detecting pattern formed on the pattern forming member, the reading unit including a light-emitting unit and a light-receiving unit; a landing position error correction unit configured to correct a landing position error of the droplet discharged by the recording head based on a result of reading the landing position error detecting pattern by the reading unit; and a surface condition detection unit configured to detect a surface condition of a region of the pattern forming member where the landing position error detecting pattern is formed, using the pattern reading unit, wherein the pattern forming unit selects either a first pattern or a second pattern as the landing position error detecting pattern, depending on the surface condition of the pattern-formed region that is determined by the surface condition detection unit, wherein the first pattern produces a relatively small amount of specular reflection compared with diffused reflection, while the second pattern produces a relatively large amount of specular reflection compared with diffused reflection, upon irradiation with light emitted by the light-emitting unit.