Claims
- 1. A method of printing multiple simultaneous images onto a photosensitive media comprising the steps of:imaging light from a light source through an optics assembly; passing said light from said optics assembly through a polarization beamsplitter element to produce a first polarization state of said light and a second polarization state of said light; directing said first polarized light to a first spatial light modulator to create an essentially telecentric illumination at said first spatial light modulator; addressing said first spatial light modulator with a first signal to create a first modulated light beam; imaging said first modulated light beam through a print lens assembly onto said photosensitive media to create a first image on said photosensitive media; directing said second polarized light to a second spatial light modulator to create an essentially telecentric illumination at said second spatial light modulator; addressing said second spatial light modulator with a second signal to create a second modulated light beam; and imaging said second modulated light beam through said print lens assembly onto said photosensitive media to create a second image spatially separated from said first image, on said photosensitive media.
- 2. A method according to claim 1, comprising the additional steps of:passing said first modulated light beam through said polarization beamsplitter prior to passing through said print lens; and passing said second modulated light beam through said polarization beamsplitter prior to passing through said print lens.
- 3. A method according to claim 1 wherein said light source is a monochromatic light source.
- 4. A method according to claim 1 wherein said light source is a halogen light source.
- 5. A method according to claim 1 wherein said light source is an LED array.
- 6. A method according to claim 5 wherein said LED array is comprised of multiple emitters wherein at least one of said emitters emits a first wavelength of light and wherein at least one of said emitters emits a second wavelength of light.
- 7. A method according to claim 1 wherein said first spatial light modulator is located on a portion of a first facet of said polarization beamsplitter and said second spatial light modulator is located on a portion of a second facet of said polarization beamsplitter.
- 8. A method according to claim 1 comprising the further step of varying a backplane voltage of each spatial light modulator.
- 9. A method according to claim 1 wherein:each of said images is polychromatic; and each modulator is addressed color sequentially.
- 10. A method of printing according to claim 1 wherein said first spatial light modulator has a first transmission characteristic and said second spatial light modulator has a second transmission characteristic.
- 11. A method according to claim 1 wherein a first set of code values are mapped to said first spatial light modulator and a second set of code values are mapped to said second spatial light modulator to provide uniformity.
- 12. A method of printing multiple images onto a photosensitive media comprising the steps of:imaging light from a light source through an optics assembly; polaizaioneleentpassing said light from said optics assembly through a polaizaioneleentto produce a first polarization state of said light; directing said polarized light to a pellicle; passing said polarized light from said pellicle to a first spatial light modulator to create an essentially telecentric illumination at said first spatial light modulator; addressing said first spatial light modulator with a first signal to create a first modulated light beam; imaging said first modulated light beam through a print lens assembly onto said photosensitive media to create a first image on said photosensitive media; passing said polarized light from said pellicle to a second spatial light modulator to create an essentially telecentric illumination at said second spatial light modulator; addressing said second spatial light modulator with a second signal to create a second modulated light beam; and imaging said second modulated light beam through said print lens assembly onto said photosensitive media to create a second image, spatially separated from said first image, and having a different aspect ratio than said first image on said photosensitive media.
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
Reference is made to commonly assigned copending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/197,328, filed Nov. 19, 1998, entitled REFLECTIVE LIQIUD CRYSTAL MODULATOR BASED PRINTING SYSTEM, by Ramanujan et al., the disclosure of which is incorporated herein.
US Referenced Citations (21)