System and method for level based image reproduction

Abstract

Provided are systems and methods for rendering a halftone image on a medium. The original continuous tone image is divided into a plurality of pixels and each pixel is representative of an area of the original image. Each pixel may comprise a plurality of dots and a level represents the number of dots to be placed within the pixel. Level also refers to an amount of ink which is placed on a medium. Each level is represented as a dot placement and potential dot placements are stored in a data structure. The data structure is large enough to hold the potential levels of one or more pixels. Thus, more than one pixel can be processed and rendered at the same time. The data structure is referenced by the levels of the pixel to be printed and the dot placement stored at the referenced level is output to the output device. Alternatively, the level can represent the number of times a particular printing head will fire or, in the case of a printer having multiple heads per color, which heads will fire for a particular pixel. In this manner, the levels of the halftone image are reproduced on an image. The systems and methods for the present invention permit an original image to be rendered at high resolutions while they are processed at lower resolutions.