Patent ID: 7586965

Claim:
A laser drive device that controls an amount of light emitted from a laser beam-emitting device that emits a laser beam based on image data, comprising: a detecting device that detects the amount of light emitted from the laser-beam emitting device; an integrated circuit having a generator device adapted to generate a modulation signal based on the image data, a current control device adapted to control a driving current supplied to the laser beam-emitting device, a first group of ports connected to the current device, and a second group of ports different from the first group of ports; and a first group of resistors, different in resistance value from one another, connected to the first group of ports of the integrated circuit, respectively, wherein the current control device is adapted to supply the driving current to the laser beam-emitting device any of the first group of ports based on the detection results of the detection device, and wherein the current control device is adapted to supply the driving current to the laser beam-emitting device via any one of the second group of ports in response to a temperature around the laser beam-emitting device.