Method and apparatus for selecting ink ejection nozzles in multi-chip print heads

Abstract

A method is described for controlling a micro-fluid ejection head that includes first and second heater chips disposed in a staggered overlapping arrangement, where a number of the nozzles of the first heater chip are substantially aligned with a corresponding number of the nozzles of the second heater chip in an overlapping region that includes N number of sub-regions. In one embodiment, the method includes: (a) determining a difference between the temperatures of the first and second heater chips; (b) determining a first percentage of nozzles in each sub-region of the first heater chip to be used in printing a first portion of the printed image; (c) determining a second percentage of nozzles in each sub-region of the second heater chip to be used in printing a second portion of the printed image; and (d) printing the first and second portions of the printed image using the first percentage of nozzles in each sub-region of the first heater chip and the second percentage of nozzles in each sub-region of the second heater chip. The first and second percentages of nozzles may be determined based on the difference in temperature between the first and second heater chips.