Print engine/controller with half-toner/compositor

摘要

A print engine/controller ( 10 ) configured to be coupled with others to drive an ink drop printhead ( 33 ). It has an interface ( 27 ) at which to receive compressed page data. Image decoders ( 28, 88 ) decode compressed image planes in the received compressed page data. A half-toner/compositer ( 29 ) a half-toner/compositer composites respective strips of the decoded image planes by halftoning a contone layer to a bi-level version and compositing a spot1 bi-level layer over an appropriate halftoned contone layer. A printhead interface ( 32 ) interfaces with the printhead. A synchronization signal generator ( 89,90 ) outputs a synchronization signal that is used to synchronize print engine/controllers. In some embodiments, one printhead interface ( 32 ) acts as master generating the synchronization signal to synchronize all the print engine/controllers to drive the printhead at any one or more of higher speed, higher input resolution, higher outlet resolution or wider format.