Abstract: In an ink jet apparatus having a printhead carrier for carrying an ink jet printhead configured to receive a serial data steam over a serial data channel, a method for performing printhead heating of the ink jet printhead includes performing pre-swath heating of the ink jet printhead by sending serial pre-swath heat data over the serial data channel to the ink jet printhead during an acceleration of the printhead carrier toward a steady-state velocity; and terminating the serial pre-swath heat data immediately prior to priming the ink jet printhead with print data.

Abstract: A method of printing using a printhead, the printhead having a plurality of ink ejectors and a plurality of jetting heaters corresponding to the plurality of ink ejectors includes applying a first waveform to the plurality of jetting heaters prior to a printing operation to warm up the printhead to a desired printhead operating temperature; applying a second waveform to a first portion of the plurality of jetting heaters during the printing operation to print an image without applying the first waveform to any of the plurality of jetting heaters; and applying a third waveform different from the first waveform to a second portion of the plurality of jetting heaters different from the first portion during the printing operation to maintain the desired printhead operating temperature.