Stable Hybrid Screening with Enhanced Dot Growth Control in Highlights and Shadows

When AM screening techniques are used for rendering very bright tones the resulting halftone dots can become too small to be reproduced effectively. An algorithm is proposed to generate hybrid (e.g., stochastic and conventional) halftone tiles with enhanced dot growth control that guarantees stable halftone rendering in highlights and shadows. The proposed method was tested on different CTP device in a wide range of line rulings and is shown to produce a more repeatable and stable process.