Apparatus and method for maximizing a rate of image data transfer in a printing system

A printing system, including a controller, for managing respective output operations of a first job and a second job with each of the first and second jobs having a dimension and being represented by image signals, comprising:

• a video bus for transmitting image signals of the first and second jobs thereacross;
• a first storage area, communicating with said video bus, for storing the second job;
• a first output device and a second output device, each of said first and second output devices communicating with said video bus;
• a first transfer module, communicating with both said video bus and said first output device, including:
• a first buffer for buffering a first set of image signals representing a first segment of the first job, the first segment including a packet dimension, the packet dimension of the first segment being less than the first job dimension, and
• a first programmable direct memory access apparatus, responsive to the controller, for transferring the first segment of the job from the first buffer to said first output device, and
• a second transfer module, communicating with both said video bus and said second output device, said second transfer module being disposed in parallel with said first transfer module, said second transfer module including a second programmable direct memory access apparatus, responsive to the controller, for transferring a second set of image signals representing a second segment of the second job from said first storage area to said second output device while the first job segment is being transferred, with said first transfer module, to said first output device, the second segment including a packet dimension with the packet dimension of the second segment being less than the second job dimension.