Dynamic Print Mode Control for Inkjet Printing

We introduce a novel printing scheme that allows arbitrarily shaped regions in a document to be printed using different modes. Our implementation first segments the document into two basic modes: one pass and four pass. The one pass mode results in greater print speed but has lower quality, whereas the four pass mode results in greater quality but lower print speed. Typically, the one pass mode is more suitable for text and graphics, while the four pass mode is more suitable for continuous tone pictures. We demonstrate our method using a Lexmark Z52 print engine controlled by a Texas Instruments C6211 DSP. The resulting dynamic print mode control system can be used to continuously trade-off print speed for print quality, or to optimize print quality at a desired print speed.