A Modular Printing (MP) architecture can significantly reduce hardware cost and improve configurability of digital printing systems. However image-to-image misregistration as the result of paper handling and multiple imaging modules could introduce halo and halftone moiré artifacts and thereby present a challenge for print quality control. In MP systems, paper passes multiple imaging, development and fusing stations. Differences among subsystems of the print engines contribute to misregistration on the prints. In this paper we present a method to measure and characterize the image-to-image (I-to-I) misregistration in MP systems. Based on the misregistration measurements, we can parse the misregistration into four main types: translation, rotation, magnification, and residual deformation. A parameterized digital compensation method can reduce misregistration for different media types based on the measurement.
Mu Qiao, Robert P Loce, Shen-ge Wang, Daniel W Costanza, Rakesh Kulkarni, "Registration Error Measurement and Compensation Method for Modular Printing Systems" in Proc. IS&T Int'l Conf. on Digital Printing Technologies and Digital Fabrication (NIP26), 2010, pp 243 - 246, https://doi.org/10.2352/ISSN.2169-4451.2010.26.1.art00066_1