| 摘要 |
A method and apparatus is disclosed for setting a distribution of image points on a printing surface having a coating of thermally activated material. For each image point to be set and used as part of an image, a laser heats the image point for a predetermined time period to a limiting or process temperature. The image points are preheated to an intermediate temperature below the limiting or process temperature and above an ambient temperature in order to reduce the energy required to raise the temperature of the thermally activated material at an image point to be set. In one embodiment of the invention, the entire printing surface is preheated to the intermediate temperature. In an alternative embodiment of the invention, only a region of the printing surface is preheated. In this alternative embodiment, the region moves with a writing head that sets the image points. In this regard, the rate of travel of the image head across the printing surface is such that a temporal stationary temperature is reached at the intermediate temperature prior to raising the temperature to the limiting or process temperature.
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