Abstract: A printer providing time coded heating energy applications to printhead resistors to provide variable volmetric densities. Variable densities can also be provided through integrating dithering with the varying of volumetric densities. The printer can provide either one of two kinds of printing technologies by selection.

Abstract: A thermal printer prints on a printing medium by heating a thermal print head which causes sublimation of a printing film at the areas corresponding to data or image to be printed. The sublimated dye on the printing film results in the data or image being printed on a supplied print medium. The types of print medium and printing film are sensed and the heating energy supplied to the print head is controlled in accordance with the types of medium and printing film used. The heat is controlled by varying the level of voltage supplied thereto, or by varying the duration of voltage supplied thereto, or by varying the repetitions of the printing operation, or by combinations of the latter. The type of medium used is sensed by sensing the light transmissivity or reflectivity of the medium. The type of printing film used is sensed by either sensing a bar code on the cartridge housing the film or by sensing a uniqueness of the shape of the cartridge housing the printing film.

Abstract: Disclosed is a thermal transfer printer which makes it possible to perform both recording using an ink ribbon coated with a hot melt ink and recording using an ink ribbon coated with a hot sublimation ink. In the thermal transfer printer, a thermal head mounted on a carriage is driven to thereby effect printing on printing paper while moving the carriage with the thermal head being held in press contact with a platen through the intermediation of an ink ribbon and printing paper, wherein the thermal transfer printer further comprises a control section which makes it possible to selectively switch, in accordance with a mode signal, between a first recording mode in which printing by hot melt transfer is effected on the printing paper by using a hot melt type ink ribbon as the ink ribbon and a second recording mode in which printing by hot sublimation transfer is effected on the printing paper by using a hot sublimation type ink ribbon as the ink ribbon.

Abstract: The invention is directed to a thermal printer, with a thermal print head having a series of electrically drivable heating elements, with a microprocessor transferring data to be printed into a register associated with the thermal print head. In order to increase the printing speed, a buffer storage connected to the microprocessor via a parallel data line as well as a separate load state monitoring circuit are proposed, the monitoring circuit being connected to the buffer storage and causing data to be transferred from the buffer storage into the register when the data written into the buffer storage from the microprocessor has reached a defined quantity. As an alternative or addition, it is recommended to insert a pulse generator and a stepping motor driver between the output of the microprocessor and the stepping motor for driving the platen roll.

Abstract: A plate making device and method, wherein when a light sensor detects that the stencil plate inserted into the plate making device is provided with the through hole, the controller supplies a current to the thermal head for T1 seconds to control the heat time to be short, so that the perforation energy of the thermal head is reduced. On the other hand, when the light sensor detects that the stencil plate has no through hole, the controller supplies a current to the thermal head for T2 seconds longer than T1 seconds to control the heat time to be long, so that the perforation energy of the thermal head is increased. In this device, even when any type of stencil plate is used, the plate making process providing the best print quality for each stencil plate can be performed.

Abstract: A thermal printer is equipped with apparatus for allowing the thermal printer to be quickly and easily adapted to the type of paper currently being used without the need for testing and adjusting to obtain an essentially optimum print quality. The printer can also be equipped with a temperature sensor, attached to the thermal print head and connected to the computer control to essentially also produce printed images of uniformly high quality regardless of temperature fluctuations of the thermal print head. The necessary information for providing the adjustment values for producing the high quality print can be stored in a read/write memory connected to the processor.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for performing laser dye ablation printing utilizing a laser diode with improved contrast and uniformity produces exposed film having a minimum optical density (Dmin) of less than 0.11 and exhibiting significant reductions in visible raster lines. Specifically, a laser printing apparatus is provided that includes a mechanism for retaining a film to be exposed, a laser diode source for generating a write beam, and a mechanism for scanning the write beam across the film to generate an image. The intensity of write beam generated by the laser diode source at the film is preferably at least 1.0 mW/square micron. During operation, a film to be exposed is placed in the retaining mechanism and the write beam is scanned across the film to generate an image.

Abstract: A video printer for transferring an image from an ink ribbon to a print sheet has a print medium detector for detecting the type of a print medium and outputting medium data indicative of the detected type, a memory for storing image data to be printed, and a keyboard for inputting reversal information indicating whether the image data stored in the memory are to be reversed or not. A reversing unit selectively outputs the image data stored in the memory and reversed image data which are a reversal of the image data stored in the memory. A gamma correcting circuit adjusts image density of the image data with image density adjusting data, or a gamma curve, selected from a plurality of sets of image density adjusting data or gamma curves each having a different image density characteristic, and outputs the image data with the adjusted image density. A thermal head transfers an image represented by the image data with the adjusted image density to the print medium with an ink ribbon.