Patent ID: 7673957

Claim:
A method for use with an ink jet printhead having a plurality of nozzles, each of said plurality of nozzles having associated therewith a respective heating element, said method comprising: printing with said plurality of nozzles a test pattern while varying an energy of a respective heater pulse used to energize each said respective heating element at each of a plurality of printhead carrier positions along a single swath; scanning said test pattern with a reflectance sensor to generate reflectance data associated with said energy of said respective heater pulse used to energize each said respective heating element at each of said plurality of printhead carrier positions; and determining an optimal non-nucleating heater pulse for use with said ink jet printhead based on said reflectance data, wherein said determining includes: setting a fire pulse increment variable to a predetermined value; calculating a slope of a difference in reflectance data at a corresponding difference in a pair of printhead carrier positions of said plurality of printhead carrier positions; comparing said fire pulse increment variable to a maximum number of fire pulses if said reflectance data is lesser than a non-nucleating threshold and said slope is greater than a predetermined threshold constant; and setting a default non-nucleation value for said ink jet printhead if said fire pulse increment variable is greater than said maximum number of fire pulses.