Patent ID: 6846066

Claim:
A recording apparatus for recording an image onto a recording medium using recording means having, at least, a first recording element and a second recording element, the recording apparatus comprising: storage means for storing patterns, corresponding to each of n levels of record data (n is an integer equal to or larger than 3), and representing the presence or absence of a dot at each of a plurality of recording dot positions, the patterns stored in the storage means corresponding to the first and second recording elements; a buffer for storing data to be recorded by the first and second recording elements; means for acquiring, from the storage means, the patterns of the n levels of record data corresponding to each of the first and second recording elements, and for expanding the patterns in the buffer; and recording control means for controlling the first and second recording elements to record the data expanded in the buffer, wherein a dot to be recorded in the pattern corresponding to the first recording element and a dot to be recorded in the pattern corresponding to the second recording element, at the same level, do not coincide with each other in position except in the pattern at the highest level n.