Testing of nonimpact optical printheads

A multipurpose optical-printhead evaluation device was designed that is capable of quantifying the performance of an optical printhead. A charge-coupled device (CCD) linear array measures the energy distribution produced by the printhead at the surface normally occupied by a photoconductive drum. From these measurements various mathematical entities, such as the modulation transfer function and image fidelity, are calculated to help evaluate the printhead. Measurements are reported that were performed on a laser printhead.