Patent ID: 6891594

Claim:
A printing device comprising: a light source; and exposing means for modulating light from the light source for each pixel and for directing the resulting light to a photosensitive material, the exposing means being provided with a plurality of light modulating elements each of which controls the transmission and interruption of light rays having respectively different specific wavelength bands and each of which transmits light rays having the other wavelength bands, the light modulating elements being aligned in a light-axis direction so as to correspond to the respective pixels, wherein color tones in the respective pixels with respect to an image printed on a photosensitive material are controlled based upon the subtractive color process by allowing the respective light modulating elements to control the transmission and interruption of light rays having respectively specific wavelength bands, and when light passes through each pixel, each of the light modulating elements modulates, in accordance with application/non-application of a voltage, a phase difference of a light ray having a specific wavelength band, so as to control the transmission and interruption of the light ray having the specific wavelength band and allows light rays having other wavelength bands to pass through in such a manner as to cause the phase difference of the light ray having the specific wavelength band to be identical to a phase difference of light rays having the other wavelength bands, in a particular state of voltage application, while, causing the phase difference of the light ray having the specific wavelength band to be different from the phase difference of the light rays having the other wavelength bands, in the other state of voltage application, so that the transmission and interruption of the light ray having the specific wavelength band are controlled and light rays having other wavelength bands are allowed to pass through.