Halftone Technology for Graininess Improvement by Reducing Droplet Settling Interference

Abstract

An ink dot after landing on paper shifts from the landed position due to droplet settling interference. The dot shift degrades the print quality, particularly graininess. In this research, we focused on the landing order of dots and clarified the mechanism of image quality deterioration due to the interference. We developed a new halftone technology to suppress the shift and improves filling on the paper with mixed droplet types. Under high-speed printing conditions that tend to degrade the image quality, we improved the graininess in high density areas by optimizing the dot placement. Furthermore, we reduced the ink consumption by efficiently filling the dots.