Patent ID: 8085288

Claim:
An exposure system for exposing a recording material, comprising: a holder holding a recording material; a plurality of light sources configured to simultaneously emit exposure light; an exposure head in which said plurality of light sources are located at dispersed sites at regular intervals in a direction of arrangement along said recording material; a transport unit moving said exposure head along said recording material; an exposure-data input unit acquiring general exposure data describing the contents of exposure of said recording material; a channel-by-channel-exposure-data generator generating, based on said general exposure data, channel-by-channel exposure data describing the contents of exposure performed by each of said plurality of light sources; and an exposure controller controlling said plurality of light sources so that exposure light is emitted according to the contents of description of said channel-by-channel exposure data, wherein (a) in a case where said plurality of light sources are all in a light-emitting state, said channel-by-channel-exposure-data generator generates said channel-by-channel exposure data describing the way that an exposed area should be formed by use of said exposure light emitted from all of said plurality of light sources, said exposed area being formed by said exposure controller causing said plurality of light sources to emit exposure light according to said channel-by-channel exposure data while causing said transport unit to move said exposure head through only a standard interval having a distance approximately equal to an interval between said plurality of light sources; and (b) in a case where said plurality of light sources includes some non-light emitting light sources, said channel-by-channel-exposure-data generator generates said channel-by-channel exposure data describing the way that said exposed area should be formed by use of said exposure light emitted from a specific light source in the light-emitting state during a period when said exposure head is moved through a complementary interval in addition to said standard interval, said complementary interval being continuous at least either before or after said standard interval and having a distance equal to a multiple of the length of said standard interval by a natural number, said specific light source being determined by the locations of said non-light emitting light sources, said exposed area being formed by said exposure controller causing said specific light source to emit exposure light according to said channel-by-channel exposure data while causing said transport unit to move said exposure head through said standard interval and through said complementary interval.