Laser print apparatus with toner explosion compensation

Abstract

A printing apparatus comprises a processor comprising registers, and a memory configured to store image data. The processor is configured to load portions of the image data into the registers and perform toner explosion compensation on the portions of the image data loaded in the registers, excluding image data loaded in boundary positions in the registers.

1 .- 20 . (canceled) 
   
   
       21 . A printing apparatus comprising:
 at least one storage element configured to store image data and configured to load a set of values from the image data; and   a pattern comparator configured to perform toner explosion compensation by comparing a portion of the set of values to data indicative of toner explosion conditions, wherein at least one pixel of the image data is modified based on the comparison of the portion of the set of values of image data to the data indicative of toner explosion conditions and toner explosion compensation is not applied when the at least one pixel is loaded in a boundary position of the at least one storage element.   
   
   
       22 . The printing apparatus of  claim 21 , wherein the at least one storage element includes a first storage element to store the image data and a second storage element to load the set of values from the image data. 
   
   
       23 . The printing apparatus of  claim 21 , wherein the boundary position of the at least one storage element is either a first column or a last column. 
   
   
       24 . The printing apparatus of  claim 21 , wherein the data indicative of toner explosion conditions is at least one template. 
   
   
       25 . The printing apparatus of  claim 23 , wherein the at least one template comprises an odd number of rows or columns of pixel data. 
   
   
       26 . The printing apparatus of  claim 21 , wherein the image data comprises 2-bits per pixel. 
   
   
       27 . The printing apparatus of  claim 21 , further comprising:
 a laser print engine in communication with the pattern comparator for printing the image data.   
   
   
       28 . The printing apparatus of  claim 21 , further comprising:
 an input/output interface in communication with the pattern comparator and configured to receive the image data from a host.   
   
   
       29 . A method for performing toner explosion compensation on image data, the method comprising:
 loading a portion of the image data into a storage element;   comparing a window of the portion of the image data to a toner explosion pattern as the window is moved across the portion of the image data such that image data is not compared to a toner explosion pattern when the window is located at a position such that at least one changeable pixel of the window is loaded in a boundary position of the storage element; and   modifying the at least one changeable pixel of the window of the portion of the image data based on the comparison, when the at least one changeable pixel is contained in non-boundary positions of the storage element.   
   
   
       30 . The method of  claim 29 , wherein the boundary position of the storage element is either a first column or a last column. 
   
   
       31 . The method of  claim 29 , wherein the toner explosion pattern comprises an odd number of rows or columns of pixel data. 
   
   
       32 . The method of  claim 29 , wherein the image data comprises 2-bits per pixel. 
   
   
       33 . The method of  claim 29 , further comprising:
 printing the image data at a laser print engine after the at least one changeable pixel has been modified.   
   
   
       34 . The method of  claim 29 , further comprising:
 receiving the image data from a host.   
   
   
       35 . An image forming apparatus for performing toner explosion compensation on image data comprising:
 a memory for storing at least one toner explosion pattern having a plurality of pixel values, wherein at least one of the plurality of pixel values corresponds to a changeable pixel in the image data;   a storage element comprising a plurality of positions including a first boundary position, a second boundary position, and one or more non-boundary positions, wherein the storage element is configured to load a portion of the image data into the positions; and   a pattern comparator configured to compare the at least one toner explosion pattern to the portion of the image data loaded in the storage element and change the changeable pixel when the portion of the image data loaded in the storage element matches the at least one toner explosion pattern, wherein the pattern comparator does not compare the at least one toner explosion pattern to the portion of the image data loaded in the storage element when the changeable pixel is loaded in the first boundary position or the second boundary position.   
   
   
       36 . The image forming apparatus of  claim 35 , wherein the memory stores the image data. 
   
   
       37 . The image forming apparatus of  claim 35 , further comprising a second memory for storing the image data. 
   
   
       38 . The image forming apparatus of  claim 35 , wherein the boundary position of the storage element is either a first column or a last column. 
   
   
       39 . The image forming apparatus of  claim 35 , wherein the at least one toner explosion pattern includes an odd number of rows or columns of pixel data. 
   
   
       40 . The image forming apparatus of  claim 35 , further comprising:
 a laser print engine in communication with the pattern comparator for printing the image data.