Imaging a sample with multiple beams and multiple detectors

Imaging a sample with multiple beams and multiple detectors. The invention relates to a multi-beam apparatus for inspecting or processing a sample with a multitude of focused beams, the apparatus equipped to scan a multitude of N beams over the sample, the apparatus equipped with a multitude of M detectors for detecting secondary radiation emitted by the sample when said sample is irradiated by the multitude of beams, each of the detectors capable of outputting a detector signal representing the intensity of the secondary radiation detected by the detector, characterized in that, in working, each detector signal comprises information caused by multiple beams, the information caused by one beam thus spread over multiple detectors, the apparatus equipped with a programmable controller for processing the multitude of detector signals to a multitude of output signals by a weighting factor, the controller processing the multitude of detector signals so that each output signal represents information caused by a single beam. The weighting factor is a dynamic weighting factor on the basis of scan positions of the beams relative to the detectors as well as the distance between the sample and the detectors.