Patent ID: 7088468

Claim:
A method for writing patterns on a light sensitive surface comprising the steps of: providing at least two modulated focused laser beams scanning the surface in interlaced parallel scan lines; providing for each beam a beam processor unit with data conversion logic and means for modulating said laser beam; providing input data containing geometries to be written on a plate in an input format; in a first conversion step fracturing the input data into writing fields including at least a portion of a writing swath; in a second conversion step cutting the geometries in a fractured database into scan lines, and generating for each scan line a scan list containing geometries to be written in the scan line, so called segments, and performing said second conversion step in at least two of the beam processor units, so called segmentizers, operating simultaneously but on different writing fields; further distributing said scan lists to the beam processor units in accordance with the interlacing of the scan lines; and in a third conversion step converting in said beam processor units said scan lists of segments to analog power modulation sequences for said laser beams.