Imaging

During imaging, the drum rotates and the carriage travels along the length of the drum to expose the imageable surface area of the plate to the writing laser beams. The combined motion of the head and the drum produces a helical laser path across the plate.

The DPE board converts the vertical stripes of data from the workstation RIP into diagonal swaths of data. The DPE buffers three full stripes of data: two stripes hold the data to image the current helical swath, and the third stripe holds data for the next swath. The data from the DPE board flows to the thermal head.

The synchronization of the carriage, drum, and head subsystems is based on drum speed. Using drum speed and position information, the PLL on the MPE generates the clock signal which synchronizes data transfer to drum motion.

The MPE also calculates the exact position of the carriage using the carriage motor waveform synthesizer on the Carriage Motor Driver board.