Optimization of kernel weights for error diffusion halftoning method

This paper describes a study to find the best error diffusion kernel for halftone screening under various restrictions on the number of non-zero coefficients and their set of values. As an objective measure of quality WSNR was used. The problem of multidimensional optimization was solved numerically using several well-known algorithms: Nelder–Mead, BFGS, etc. The study found a kernel function that provides a quality gain of about 5% in comparison with the best of the commonly used kernel introduced by Floyd and Steinberg. Other obtained kernels allows to significantly reduce the computational complexity of the algorithm without reducing its quality. Since the method of error diffusion, significantly outperforming the methods used in the printing industry by quality, though not widely used in this area because of the relatively low speed, the results obtained in this work can contribute to improving its use.