Mitsubishi ML520G71...Red Holy Grail or Flashlight Fail ??

[planters]

I would like to back up a bit.
What would be the effect of a FAC assuming the can/no can issue were not an issue. To the best of my understanding it would even out the differential between the fast and slow divergence and the beam that passes out of the collimator would be more symmetrical ie. circular, but the product of the beam diameter and divergence would be roughly unchanged. If that is correct, then we are accomplishing this now with our macroscopic beam correction optics which must be cylindrical because of the dis-symmetry.

[taggalucci]

They are not the exact same!
de canning a 300mw might get you more power but it is not the only difference between them.

Yes, they are not the same. But that's not what I was getting at...

http://www.thorlabs.com/thorProduct.cfm?partNumber=WR1

...Used to get closer to the raw die - which would be helpful with FAC lenses and in the absence of any (yet) reliable supply of 500mW open can diodes.

[CDBEAM]

Would it not be a real hoot... if in 6 months...a new LD hits the market.....and makes all this great effort....OBSOLETE !!! " Hey Airborn...Give us a break....Yeah, well, lasers are a young science... " hahaha ...Things do move fast !! The science is in fast flux !!! anyway....A little " Adams Family " humor for you Steve !! BEAM

[planters]

CD,

You might want to look into, visit, befriend CTI [Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology (ILT)] in Plymouth MI. They do FACs

[Solarfire]

Would it not be a real hoot... if in 6 months...a new LD hits the market.....and makes all this great effort....OBSOLETE !!! " Hey Airborn...Give us a break....Yeah, well, lasers are a young science... " hahaha ...Things do move fast !! The science is in fast flux !!! anyway....A little " Adams Family " humor for you Steve !! BEAM

I was thinking the same thing, either obsolete or the expiration date of the diodes exceeded. Well I'm going into the quad build phase here shortly before they’re really obsolete.

[kiyoukan]

Well there are only a few options of diodes to replace these.
There needs to be a reason to make better.
Video projectors are starting to use lasers, so there now is a reason.
However i doubt we will see anything better in beam specs than our 445nm diodes, as projectors dont need that good of beam specs.
It also one of the reasons they can get so much more power.
Maybe soon one day we will have a diode for each color doing 2W in normal CW but that is going to be a long time.
As laser in use for projectors is still a new medium.
And even still the DLP chips are having a hard time taking the beating the lasers are giving them.
More casio laser projectors fail from the DLP chips than they do the lasers.
If i remember sony has some amazing laser projectors if you have about 10,000$ with something like 20W red in it.
Time will tell and there will be at least one more revision of these diodes.
There is something fishy about the 500mw version from a supplier company that shows the production for the units is somehow being a problem vs other diodes.
So something new is in the system or just very bad luck, what ever the case im thinking the 500mw version will be the final one for a long time.
Up next on the list of holy grail threads is 1W direct diode green lasers. we have them at lower powers of 60mw.

[planters]

Solarfire,

I agree, you should not wait. There is enough certainty in the design and the components to have a high probability of success. If new ideas and methods are proven and the components identified and sourced then use them. Maybe it will be a diode drop in and you'll have to decide to remove the G71 and find another use or to incorporate the new into the next projector. If a method to pack more power onto the scanner becomes practical will the increased brightness be worth the cost? It depends. What if Pangolin"s vaunted wonder scanner really is a game changer? Do you drop it in or build another projector? And so on. I suspect if you are still doing this in 5 years then your current project may be relegated to a satellite position. Go for it!

P.S. I'm STILL waiting to hear some feedback on these EMS 7000's from anyone and you sounded close.

[CDBEAM]

OH...By all means.....please continue the quest !!! I did not mean we should sit on our hands and wait for the next best " mousetrap " There WILL be one....that you can count on. Unless we really DO _ _ _ _ in our own pot....and really have a major impact on our climate.... ie a major methane release ( generally I blame THOSE on my dog, Terrawatt ). The science / art will surge ahead....and we will respond as fast as we can !!! I am sure most of our projectors would have been built with different modules than they were even 2 years ago. I have been thinking about my next build...Projector #2 for some time. All one can do is install the best you can afford....design wisely....and pospone the inevitable march towards obsolensence of some aspect of the build. BEAM

[Solarfire]

IMO the best possible beam geometry/quality of this diode has been determined a long time ago, mainly by the slow axis of this diode. This will determine what can be achieved with this diode in terms of beam diameter vs. beam divergence; it’s just a matter of deciding which trade off you are willing to accept. The mid field of this question of compromise, is approximately 4mm wide @ 1mrad, you decrease one you will proportionally raise the other. In terms of stacking and staying in the mid field of a 4mm beam diameter, a quad will be the max, here also a question of what you are willing to trade off. Yes, I know, the laws of physics can suck at times.

[steve-o]

The good thing is that now we have the option to determine that trade-off. We have a choice, and a variable/ dynamic one at that! Good stuff methinks.
Nice Fester photo CD lol :] Luv the lightbulb. He always had an electric personality ..