Patent ID: 7830405

Claim:
A method comprising steps of: (A) identifying in a pulse pattern generator a first plurality of pulses to be provided to heating elements of a thermal print head in a first portion of a first line time, the first plurality of pulses having a first average power, wherein each of the first plurality of pulses has a common predetermined energy; and (B) identifying in the pulse pattern generator a second plurality of pulses to be provided to heating elements of the thermal print head in a second portion of the first line time, the second plurality of pulses having a second average power that differs from the first average power, wherein each of the second plurality of pulses has the common predetermined energy wherein the first portion comprises a first plurality of subintervals, wherein the step (A) comprises a step of identifying in the pulse pattern generator a plurality of pulses to be provided in a plurality of consecutive ones of the first plurality of subintervals, and wherein the second portion comprises a second plurality of subintervals, wherein the step (B) comprises a step of identifying in the pulse pattern generator a plurality of pulses to be provided in a plurality of nonconsecutive ones of the second plurality of subintervals, wherein the step (B) comprises steps of: (B)(1) selecting a period N, where N>1; and (B)(2) identifying in the pulse pattern generator a plurality of pulses to be provided within the plurality of nonconsecutive ones of the second plurality of subintervals, whereby the plurality of pulses have a period of N within the second plurality of subintervals.