A halftone screen generator, halftone screen and method for generating same

Claim 2

A halftone screen comprising: (a) a screen ruling and a screen angle, said screen ruling and said screen angle defining the theoretical centers of gravity of halftone dots; and, (b) a plurality of halftone dots at least some of which have their actual centers of gravity positionally displaced from their theoretical centers of gravity by the length and angle of random phase vectors.

Claim 3

The halftone screen of claim 1 wherein the magnitude of said positional displacement is related to dot size.

Claim 4

The halftone screen of claim 2 wherein the magnitude of said positional displacement is inversely related to dot size.

Claim 5

The halftone screen of claim 2 wherein the magnitude of said positional displacement is directly related to dot size.

Claim 6

The halftone screen of claim 2 wherein the magnitude of said positional displacement is related to tone value.

Claim 7

The halftone screen of claim 5 wherein the magnitude of said positional displacement is inversely related to tone value.

Claim 8

The halftone screen of claim 5 wherein the magnitude of said positional displacement is directly related to tone value.

Claim 11

The method of claim 8 wherein said at least some halftone dots are positionally displaced from their theoretical centers of gravity by a distance that is related to dot size.

Claim 12

The method of claim 9 wherein said at least some halftone dots are positionally displaced from their theoretical centers of gravity by a distance that is inversely related to dot size.

Claim 13

The method of claim 9 wherein said at least some halftone dots are positionally displaced from their theoretical centers of gravity by a distance that is directly related to dot size.

Claim 14

The method of claim 9 wherein said at least some halftone dots are positionally displaced from their theoretical centers of gravity by a distance that is related to tone value.

Claim 15

The method of claim 12 wherein said at least some halftone dots are positionally displaced from their theoretical centers of gravity by a distance that is inversely related to tone value.

Claim 16

The method of claim 12 wherein said at least some halftone dots are positionally displaced from their theoretical centers of gravity by a distance that is directly related to tone value.

Claim 17

A halftone recording/scanning apparatus comprising: (a) a recording means having an addressable grid on a recording medium, said recording means producing pairs of coordinates (Ui,Vj) that correspond to physical locations on said addressable grid; (b) a mapping means for mapping the coordinates (Ui,Vj) into corresponding coordinates (Xi,Yj) of a prerotated, multiple dot supercell in which at least some dots have their actual centers of gravity positionally displaced from their theoretical centers of gravity by the length and angle of random phase vectors; (c) a means for generating a threshold value T(Xi,Yj) for every position (Xi,Yj) within said supercell; (d) a means for image scanning a medium, said means for image scanning having a coordinate system; (e) a means for transforming the recording means position coordinate pairs (Ui,Vj) into the coordinate system of said means for image scanning to produce a pair of image coordinates associated with a corresponding pixel value P(i,j) from said means for image scanning; (f) a means for comparing the threshold value T(Xi,Yj) and the pixel value P(i,j), said comparing means producing a signal representative of the results of the comparison; and, (g) a means responsive to said signal for controlling the recording of said recording means on the recording medium.

Claim 18

A halftone recording/scanning apparatus comprising: (a) a recording means having an addressable grid on a recording medium, said recording means producing pairs of coordinates (Ui,Vj) that correspond to physical locations on said addressable grid; (b) a mapping means for mapping the coordinates (Ui,Vj) into corresponding coordinates (Xi,Yj) of a prerotated, multiple dot supercell in which at least some dots have their actual centers of gravity positionally displaced from their theoretical centers of gravity by the length and angle of random phase vectors; (c) a means for generating a threshold value T(Xi,Yj) for every position (Xi,Yj) within said supercell; (d) a means for image scanning a medium, said means for image scanning having a coordinate system; (e) a means for transforming the recording means position coordinate pairs (Ui,Vj) into the coordinate system of said means for image scanning to produce a pair of image coordinates associated with a corresponding pixel value P(i,j) from said means for image scanning; (f) a means for comparing the threshold value T(Xi,Yj) and the pixel value P(i,j), said comparing means producing a signal representative of the results of the comparison; and, (g) a means responsive to said signal for controlling the recording of said recording means on the recording medium.

Claim 19

A halftone recording apparatus comprising: (a) a recording means having an addressable grid on a recording medium, said recording means producing pairs of coordinates (Ui,Vj) that correspond to physical locations on said addressable grid; (b) a mapping means for mapping the coordinates (Ui,Vj) into corresponding coordinates (Xi,Yj) of a prerotated, multiple dot supercell in which at least some dots have their actual centers of gravity positionally displaced from their theoretical centers of gravity by the length and angle of random phase vectors; (c) a means for generating a threshold value T(Xi,Yj) for every position (Xi,Yj) within said supercell; (d) a means for storing and retrieving data representative of an original image having a coordinate system; (e) a means for transforming the recording means position coordinate pairs (Ui,Vj) into the coordinate system of an image retrieved from said data storing and retrieving means to produce a pair of image coordinates associated with a corresponding pixel value P(i,j) from said retrieved image; (f) a means for comparing the threshold value T(Xi,Yj) and the pixel value P(i,j), said comparing means producing a signal representative of the results of the comparison; and, (g) a means responsive to said signal for controlling the recording of said recording means on the recording medium.

Claim 20

A halftone recording apparatus comprising: (a) a recording means having an addressable grid on a recording medium, said recording means producing pairs of coordinates (Ui,Vj) that correspond to physical locations on said addressable grid; (b) a mapping means for mapping the coordinates (Ui,Vj) into corresponding coordinates (Xi,Yj) of a prerotated, multiple dot supercell in which at least some dots have their actual centers of gravity positionally displaced from their theoretical centers of gravity by the length and angle of random phase vectors; (c) a means for generating a threshold value T(Xi,Yj) for every position (Xi,Yj) within said supercell; (d) a means for storing and retrieving data representative of an original image having a coordinate system; (e) a means for transforming the recording means position coordinate pairs (Ui,Vj) into the coordinate system of an image retrieved from said data storing and retrieving means to produce a pair of image coordinates associated with a corresponding pixel value P(i,j) from said retrieved image; (f) a means for comparing the threshold value T(Xi,Yj) and the pixel value P(i,j), said comparing means producing a signal representative of the results of the comparison; and, (g) a means responsive to said signal for controlling the recording of said recording means on the recording medium.

Claim 21

The halftone recording apparatus of claim 16 wherein said original image is an optical image.

Claim 22

The halftone recording apparatus of claim 16 wherein said original image is an electronic image.

Claim 23

A halftone recording apparatus comprising: (a) a recording means having an addressable grid on a recording medium; (b) means for producing pairs of coordinates (Ui,Vj) that correspond to physical locations on said addressable grid; (c) a mapping means for mapping the coordinates (Ui,Vj) into corresponding coordinates (Xi,Yj) of a prerotated, multiple dot supercell in which at least some dots have their actual centers of gravity positionally displaced from their theoretical centers of gravity by the length and angle of random phase vectors; (d) a means for generating a threshold value T(Xi,Yj) for every position (Xi,Yj) within said supercell; (e) a means for image scanning a medium, said means for image scanning having a coordinate system; (f) a means for transforming said position coordinate pairs (Ui,Vj) into the coordinate system of said means for image scanning to produce a pair of image coordinates associated with a corresponding pixel value P(i,j) from said means for image scanning; (g) a means for comparing the threshold value T(Xi,Yj) and the pixel value P(i,j), said comparing means producing a signal representative of the results of the comparison; and, (h) a means for storing and retrieving said signal for subsequent use by said recording means.

Claim 24

A halftone recording apparatus comprising: (a) a recording means having an addressable grid on a recording medium; (b) means for producing pairs of coordinates (Ui,Vj) that correspond to physical locations on said addressable grid; (c) a mapping means for mapping the coordinates (Ui,Vj) into corresponding coordinates (Xi,Yj) of a prerotated, multiple dot supercell in which at least some dots have their actual centers of gravity positionally displaced from their theoretical centers of gravity by the length and angle of random phase vectors; (d) a means for generating a threshold value T(Xi,Yj) for every position (Xi,Yj) within said supercell; (e) a means for image scanning a medium, said means for image scanning having a coordinate system; (f) a means for transforming said position coordinate pairs (Ui,Vj) into the coordinate system of said means for image scanning to produce a pair of image coordinates associated with a corresponding pixel value P(i,j) from said means for image scanning; (g) a means for comparing the threshold value T(Xi,Yj) and the pixel value P(i,j), said comparing means producing a signal representative of the results of the comparison; and, (h) a means for storing and retrieving said signal for subsequent use by said recording means.

Claim 25

A halftone recording apparatus comprising: (a) a recording means having an addressable grid on a recording medium; (b) means for producing pairs of coordinates (Ui,Vj) that correspond to physical locations on said addressable grid; (c) a mapping means for mapping the coordinates (Ui,Vj) into corresponding coordinates (Xi,Yj) of a prerotated, multiple dot supercell in which at least some dots have their actual centers of gravity positionally displaced from their theoretical centers of gravity by the length and angle of random phase vectors; (d) a means for generating a threshold value T(Xi,Yj) for every position (Xi,Yj) within said supercell; (e) a means for storing and retrieving data respresentative of an original image having a coordinate system; (f) a means for transforming said position coordinate pairs (Ui,Vj) into the coordinate system of an image retrieved from said data storing and retrieving means to produce a pair of image coordinates associated with a corresponding pixel value P(i,j) from said retrieved image; (g) a means for comparing the threshold value T(Xi,Yj) and the pixel value P(i,j), said comparing means producing a signal representative of the results of the comparison; and, (h) a means for storing and retrieving said signal for subsequent use by said recording means.

Claim 26

A halftone recording apparatus comprising: (a) a recording means having an addressable grid on a recording medium; (b) means for producing pairs of coordinates (Ui,Vj) that correspond to physical locations on said addressable grid; (c) a mapping means for mapping the coordinates (Ui,Vj) into corresponding coordinates (Xi,Yj) of a prerotated, multiple dot supercell in which at least some dots have their actual centers of gravity positionally displaced from their theoretical centers of gravity by the length and angle of random phase vectors; (d) a means for generating a threshold value T(Xi,Yj) for every position (Xi,Yj) within said supercell; (e) a means for storing and retrieving data respresentative of an original image having a coordinate system; (f) a means for transforming said position coordinate pairs (Ui,Vj) into the coordinate system of an image retrieved from said data storing and retrieving means to produce a pair of image coordinates associated with a corresponding pixel value P(i,j) from said retrieved image; (g) a means for comparing the threshold value T(Xi,Yj) and the pixel value P(i,j), said comparing means producing a signal representative of the results of the comparison; and, (h) a means for storing and retrieving said signal for subsequent use by said recording means.

Claim 27

The halftone recording apparatus of claim 20 wherein said original image is an optical image.

Claim 28

The halftone recording apparatus of claim 20 wherein said original image is an electronic image.

Claim 29

A halftone screen comprising: (a) a plurality of screen rulings and a screen angle, said screen rulings and said screen angle defining the theoretical centers of gravity of halftone dots; and, (b) a plurality of halftone dots at least some of which have their actual centers of gravity positionally displaced from their theoretical centers of gravity by the length and angle of random phase vectors.

Claim 30

A halftone screen comprising: (a) a plurality of screen rulings and a screen angle, said screen rulings and said screen angle defining the theoretical centers of gravity of halftone dots; and, (b) a plurality of halftone dots at least some of which have their actual centers of gravity positionally displaced from their theoretical centers of gravity by the length and angle of random phase vectors.