Printing apparatus and printing method

The printing device and method address image quality issues by using a dither mask with uncorrelated dot distributions to manage misalignment in overlapping nozzle arrays, enhancing print quality through reduced granularity and density fluctuations.

JP2026011277APending Publication Date: 2026-01-23SEIKO EPSON CORP
2 Cites 1 Cited by

Patent Information

Application Number
JP2024111758
Authority / Receiving Office
JP · JP
Patent Type
Applications
Current Assignee / Owner
Filing Date
2024-07-11
Publication Date
2026-01-23

AI Technical Summary

Technical Problem

Existing printing technologies face issues with image quality degradation due to misalignment of dot formation positions when multiple nozzle arrays overlap, leading to reduced granularity and density fluctuations, especially in printers with two or more overlapping areas.

Method used

A printing device and method that utilizes a dither mask with blue or green noise characteristics to divide pixels into groups, ensuring uncorrelated dot distributions across overlapping regions, and adjusts the dither mask elements based on the relative positional relationship between nozzle arrays to maintain image quality.

Benefits of technology

The solution enhances image quality by reducing granularity fluctuations and maintaining consistent density across overlapping areas, improving the overall print quality.

✦ Generated by Eureka AI based on patent content.
Patent Text Reader

Abstract

To provide a printer in which image quality is less likely to deteriorate even if halftone processing is performed using a dither mask repeatedly.SOLUTION: And a head unit that forms the output image on a medium based on a processing result of the halftone processing unit, in which a direction in which a plurality of heads discharge liquid is defined as a first direction, a direction in which the medium is transported is defined as a second direction, and a direction orthogonal to the first direction and the second direction is defined as a third direction. The output image includes a mixed region and an independent region, a length of the mixed region in the third direction is a first length, a length of the independent region in the third direction is a second length, and the number of elements of the dither mask in the third direction is N times or 1 / N times a total number of the number of pixels corresponding to the first length and the number of pixels corresponding to the second length.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1
Need to check novelty before this filing date? Find Prior Art