Image forming apparatus and image forming method

An electrophotographic image forming apparatus comprising:

• a photosensitive material;
• a light source exposing a printed image on the photosensitive material;
• a driving unit blinking and driving the light source;
• a generating unit configured to generate a multi-valued image signal including continuous n-number pieces of first pixel data by image processing;
• a data outputting unit configured to output data corresponding to the multi-valued image signal generated by the generating unit;
• and
• a converting unit configured to convert the output data into a pulse width signal including continuous m-number pieces of second pixel data via a predetermined pulse growth method,
• wherein the driving unit blinks and drives the light source based on the pulse width signal, and
• wherein a ratio of a resolution between the multi-valued image signal and the exposed printed image is n:m, and n>m (n and m are natural numbers).

An image forming method of an electrophotographic image forming apparatus including a photosensitive material and a light source exposing a printed image on the photosensitive material, the image forming method comprising the steps of:

• blinking and driving the light source;
• generating a multi-valued image signal including continuous n-number pieces of first pixel data by image processing;
• outputting data corresponding to the multi-valued image signal generated in the generating step;
• and
• converting the output data into a pulse width signal including continuous m-number pieces of second pixel data by a predetermined pulse growth method,
• wherein the blinking and driving step includes blinking and driving of the light source based on the pulse width signal, and
• wherein a ratio of a resolution between the multi-valued image signal and the exposed printed image is n:m, and n>m (n and m are natural numbers).