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Thread: Eye-Magic EMS-7000 Scanners from CT Lasers

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    Default Eye-Magic EMS-7000 Scanners from CT Lasers

    Continued from our post on Blue and Red KVANT Lasers...

    We also needed some scanners for our quick-build R/B projector. Initially, I just wanted some 30K scanners primarily for beam effects. Talked to Marc at CT Lasers who advised me he had a pair of the Eye-Magic EMS-7000 scanners in route and we could get these much quicker. I was a little hesitant at first as we have always used CT scanners in all of our projectors. In fact, I still have a pair of 6800 HP scanners with the original (big) amps that are still working from the late 1990's.

    Again, CT Lasers and the miracle of FedEx Saturday delivery came through again.

    Now about those Eye-Magic Scanners.
    OK, two words: "Also Incredible." I had wired-up these scanners to the power supplies and cautiously thrown the switch. Amazing, everything worked perfectly on the first try. No smoke, just great scanning.

    Yes, I tried running these at 60K and the ILDA test pattern does achieve this for small angles. For the angles we used during this show (a 25 x 50 foot screen), I had cut back to about 40K as these scanners had the bigger mirrors. The ILDA 30K test pattern still looked great, although the central blue circle becomes elliptical and distorts. However, it didn't matter as the images held together very well.

    Heat from the scanners? I didn't notice any appreciable heat other than slightly warm to the touch on the scanner block after about 15 minutes. Of course, everything was bolted onto a large Aluminum plate and the projector box had two ventilation fans. I may just give up on CT scanners in the future; especially for the mirror sizes that I can run on the EyeMagic scanners. These larger beams are ideal for the higher power KVANT lasers. I also very much liked the size of the scanner amps. These took up minimal room in the projector housing.

    The new scanner block. This is another "built-like-a-tank" block that is great for good heat dissipation when bolted onto the base plate. Here, someone was thinking.
    The height of scanner mounting in the block actually matched the beam height of the KVANT lasers! I had other scanners with other lasers and then had to shim something in order to match beam heights. The EMS-7000 scanners were basically plug and play. Save me lots of time.

    Interesting note: Some of the images we used for a show were complex and had a large number of points. Therefore, we split the images into separate frames and spread the scanner load among two projectors. This worked great considering an Eye-Magic scanner was paired with a CT 6210 scanner. The audience never knew there were two separate images created from two separate projectors.

    Or course, if one scanner or laser failed the resultant image would be flawed but everything worked as planned. We also included Pangolin's Showtime frame masking effects and found out it handles masking across multiple independent laser projectors and zones flawlessly.

    And speaking of Pangolin in my rush needs, they also came through with great customer support. We had needed some additional hardware and a software plug-in. Again, overnight delivery from Pangolin and we are in business. In fact we had one person doing Showtime programming for a laser projector that didn't even exist as I was still building it. After it was built, we just ran the Pangolin Color Palette setup and set the scanner and projection zones. Couldn't have been more simple.

    Again, I am highly impressed with the EMS-7000 scanners. Of course, time will tell if I can get 15+ years out of a scanner set.

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    That's a nice report and made interesting reading. Thanks for taking the time to give us your opinions .

    Oh, and welcome to Photonlexicon, it's nice to have you here. Would you please take a moment to fill out your approximate location in your profile. We have members here from all over the world and it's nice to see where people are, we are also able to give country specific information.

    Regards

    Jem
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    Robolasers,
    Thanks for the review. What I find strange is that there was a group buy for these last year and an upgrade for the initial release of these 7000 series a few months ago and the reports of their performance vs the 4000 series, DT scanners, GS etc have never appeared. If I am excited about a product I want to talk about it. We hear about diodes and optics and software. What about these?

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    It's a little hard to report on performance when you ship them back to Greece for an upgrade and months go by with no communication or replacement.

    Kinda led to believe that this was a simple swap old for new. Seems the "upgrading" is more like a weekend project to squeeze in, between cutting the lawn and watching sports on the telly.

    So far, I have yet to see the joys of Eye Magic.

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    I've always been curious. Which one is actually better performance wise? CT (the high power ones) or eye magic?
    I think I know the answer but I rather be completely sure .
    I want the fastest scanners and don't need humongous angles for my built.

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    fwiw, ive been using CT scanners for years, and never have had any of them go bad,
    im using the 6215HP's and the older 6800's.
    they pretty much have outlasted the actual lasers themselves

    im sure the eyemagics are also good, but you have to take into account the service turnaround times.
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    How do the prices compare? With the same aperture mirrors is the cost for a complete system from each manufacturer similar?

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    Quote Originally Posted by Bradfo69 View Post
    It's a little hard to report on performance when you ship them back to Greece for an upgrade and months go by with no communication or replacement.
    Yeah, the 'no comms' / updates-part is a sin, but.. Reportedly, they were 'stuck in customs' for a month, so... there's that... FWIW, they have shipped from FL, so.. I expect you should see yours, shortly..

    Quote Originally Posted by Bradfo69 View Post
    So far, I have yet to see the joys of Eye Magic.
    I venture to-opin you'll be happy in the end, err beginning... ..especially being used-to (largely..) 'Chivos', ya? Sure, for aerials / beam-fx, etc, the 'cheepie-weepies' are fine, but, as one recent 'Chivo > CT-convert' testified, (..and he was only upgrading to 6800s..) "..these scanners kick @$$!!" The EMS 7Ks offer similar 'rockstar-upgrade-feel', especially from Chivos.. Once you get them running some graphics shows - and, I'd suspect even more-so under the 'buttery-smooth' hand of Beyond - you'll 'see the joy'... Do-agree the 'DT-wides' are impressive.. but then-again, so are those 'wide-move' EMS-clones, too... Anyhoo..

    Yo, peej -
    Quote Originally Posted by masterpj View Post
    I've always been curious. Which one is actually better performance wise? CT (the high power ones) or eye magic?
    Well, that's a little like saying 'what's better, a Smith & Wesson, or a Remington' - each has their strengths, and, depending on model / 'goal', that-answer can be somewhat 'subjective'.. Here's some 'food for thought'.. http://www.photonlexicon.com/forums/...458#post212458 ..fwiw..

    Quote Originally Posted by carlos3621 View Post
    im sure the eyemagics are also good, but you have to take into account the service turnaround times.
    OSLS is generally quite-responsive.. Occasionally, you will catch them between a vacation-day or doc-appt-days, etc, something we all are subject-to, but.. in general, they - as the US-outlet for EMS - are *way* more-responsive than any-other EMS or CT-dealer, since they stock quite a bit, where as many-other Co's have to 'order, by order'... This 'trade-in' / upgrade deale-o was 'outside the norm', so.. not really a 'fair measure of service'.. jus' sayin'..

    @ Sir Eric - Also, a bit 'subjective' - what are we talking, here - EMS-4Ks compared to 6215s? (based on advertised kpps) Or the 7Ks? In any-case, generally-speaking, CTs are costlier, so, this is where EMS' primary 'value-preposition' comes in... *Exponentially* better-performance, across the board, than any 'Chivo' / and far more 'bankable' (imho.. at a lower-cost than comparable CT's..

    ..but, again - there's the 'wild card of subjectivity' / what they're being used-for... I, for one, runner of mostly graphics-heavy shows, like having both / all.. and, as previously 'controversially-stated' will-be delighted to give the new 'Pangvo's a good run / spanking, once available - with the intended matching-amps, etc, since, a) DSLI is not a designer of scan-amps, and b) to me, it's not a 'fair-comparison', till-then, since I am *assuming* that a 'Saturn V' (iirc?) paired with a CT-dual amp is not 'realizing the full-potential, possible'... ..otherwise, as the Red Hot Chili Peppers once infamously taunted Michael Stipe.. '...what's all the hype??'

    ciao
    j
    ....and armed only with his trusty 21 Zorgawatt KTiOPO4...

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    I did finally get a message from Amanda and they should be delivered to me by tomorrow.

    Yes, I did use them a bit before sending them back for the revision and yes, I have 6215's, DT40w's, DT40's to compare them to and honestly, so far, I personally don't see huge "rock-star feel" from the most expensive to least expensive. Maybe longevity is better with the Cambridge but, running the same fairly complex shows side by side on a big wall has revealed negligible performance differences thus far in my opinion. Maybe for precision work or very long distance graphics, or monster amounts of power (think CT Lasers recent 25watt mirror melt) but, $650 DT's versus $1600 CT's.... I just don't see $1,000 worth of "better".

    To me... the 7000's were largely hyped in terms of what I've seen so far - which admittedly wasn't a lot before shiping them back. Now... if I start being able to run some things side by side and see they prodice less flicker, then maybe I'll become a fan. I don't play test patterns for an audience.... I play shows. So, that part of the comparison doesn't excite me. Eye Magic has pretty mounting blocks for the galvos though.

    (Anything below DT40's though and I can see major quality differences - and yeah, I've got some cheap 10's, 20, 25 and 30k's all floating around too.)

    Oh.. and I do agree with much of robo's OP above though. They ARE nicely made and the drivers/amps are nice and compact so fit well in a projector. Wiring is a snap and they simply work right out of the box.
    Last edited by Bradfo69; 05-03-2013 at 06:45.

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    Brad,
    This was the most practically useful review I've yet seen. As I am thinking of the 7000's and these would be identical to your version 2.0, please post if there has been any significant improvement and if your earlier equivalency breaks down.

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