Mitigation of inductive discharge transients in printheads

A device, comprising:

• a power supply;
• an interface configured to engage with an effector head having (i) an array of effector elements, (ii) a first switch assembly controllable to deliver power from the power supply to a first subset of the effector elements, and (iii) a second switch assembly configured to deliver power from the power supply to a second subset of the effector elements;
• and
• a controller configured to:
• obtain a delay setting corresponding to the effector head;
• and
• to activate the array of effector elements:
• control the first switch assembly to deliver power to the first subset during a first time period, and
• control the second switch assembly to deliver power to the second subset during a second time period, the second time period shifted relative to the first time period according to the delay setting,
• wherein the controller is configured to obtain the delay setting by:
• controlling the first and second switch assemblies to simultaneously deliver power to the first and second subsets of effector elements;
• measuring a frequency of inductive discharge associated with the power supply;
• and
• determining the delay setting based on the frequency.