Patent ID: 7319473

Claim:
A recording apparatus comprising: a plurality of thermal elements; a strobe generator configured to provide a strobe signal comprising a sequence of N pulses, the sequence including a first group of pulses having an active state for a first duration and a second group of pulses having an active state for a second duration, wherein each pulse of the second group is positioned next to a pulse of the first group such that their active states combine to form a substantially continuous active state; and a data sequencer configured to provide an N-bit sequence representative of a gradation level for each thermal element, each bit corresponding to one of the N pulses, wherein the N bits have active states such that whenever the corresponding gradation level is within a predetermined range and whenever a bit corresponding to a pulse of the second group has an active state the bit corresponding to the adjacent pulse of the first group has an active state, wherein each thermal element is configured to generate heat based on the strobe signal and the corresponding N-bit sequence.