Duty cycle technique for a non-gray scale anti-aliasing method for laser printers

A non-gray scale anti-aliasing method for smoothing one or more edges of an image that is generated by rasterizing an ideal outline of the image using a processor means for processing a plurality of raster lines to form a pixel representation of the image to be communicated to a binary imaging printer, each raster line comprised of a plurality of pixels each having a predefined total area, the method comprising the steps of:

• for each pixel in each raster line:
• (a) determining an ideal fill area representing the area inside the ideal outline for the pixel currently being processed;
• (b) selecting an estimated fill value by comparing the ideal fill area to a lookup table representing a set of predetermined comparison values;
• (c) maintaining an actual fill value for the raster line by accumulating the estimated fill value;
• and
• (d) if the actual fill value is greater than the total area, turning on the pixel currently being processed and resetting the actual fill value.

A non-gray scale anti-aliasing method for smoothing one or more edges of an image that is generated by rasterizing an ideal outline of the image using a processor means for processing a plurality of raster lines to form a pixel representation of the image to be communicated to a binary imaging printer, each raster line comprised of a plurality of pixels each having a predefined total area, the method comprising the steps of:

• for each pixel in each raster line:
• (a) determining an ideal fill area representing the area inside the ideal outline for the pixel currently being processed;
• (b) selecting an estimated fill value by applying a fill function to the ideal fill area, the fill function effectively including at least a first and second comparison values;
• (c) maintaining an actual fill value for the raster line by accumulating the estimated fill value;
• and
• (d) if the actual fill value is greater the total area, turning on the pixel currently being processed and resetting the actual fill value.

A non-gray scale anti-aliasing method for smoothing one or more edges of an image to be printed by a binary imaging printer comprising the steps of:

• rasterizing an ideal outline of the image using a processor means for processing a plurality of raster lines to form a pixel representation of the image to be communicated to the binary imaging printer;
• and
• for each of a plurality of pixels in the raster line:
• determining an ideal fill area representing the area inside the ideal outline for the pixel currently being processed;
• comparing the ideal fill area to at least a first and second comparison value;
• determining whether the pixel currently being processed will be turned on or turned off based upon the comparison of the ideal fill area and the first and second comparison values.