Patent ID: 8540331

Claim:
A printing apparatus comprising: a printhead having, for each color ink, a plurality of nozzle arrays in each of which a plurality of nozzles are arrayed; a scanning unit configured to scan the printhead; a control unit configured to execute a speed oriented mode and an image quality oriented mode as modes of the scanning unit; a print control unit configured to generate data to be transferred to the printhead, for each nozzle array, based on print data, based on decimation data to decimate the print data, and based on information relating to an inclination of a nozzle array in a reference direction; and a memory control unit configured to read out print data held in a first buffer memory outside the print control unit, and to store, in a second buffer memory inside the print control unit in correspondence with a nozzle array, print data decimated in accordance with the decimation data, wherein in the image quality oriented mode, the print control unit reads out the decimation data from the first buffer memory and generates data to be transferred to the printhead, and wherein in the speed oriented mode, the print control unit reads out the decimation data held in advance in the second buffer memory and generates data to be transferred to the printhead.