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Thread: Newbie question time again !!

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Mar 2007
    Location
    Rotorua New Zealand
    Posts
    528

    Question Newbie question time again !!

    Hi guys,
    Here's my query... Having received the blessing of the "superior half" I am looking at the lasers for my RGB projector.
    In particular the blue 473nm.. ( I have a maxy' dual red and greens are fairly cheap by comparison).

    Now the story goes, that at
    200mw the price is 2150.00 US$
    250mw the price is 2700.00 US$
    300mw the price is 3600.00 US$

    That means that 50mw more power between the 250 and the 300mw jobs is around $900.00 bucks thats a lot of bucks for just 50 mw extra.

    Is it worth it or does the 250mw meet the need??.

    What makes me think of this is that if it were an audio amplifier at say 200 watts increasing the power to say 400 watts does not make it twice as loud in fact its only a 3db increase.... noticeable but nothing to write home about.

    My question is, I guess, does laser light work like this (sound) or is it "linear" in other words the 50mw for $900.00 is going to make a "real " improvement or is it kinda just a "bit" more.

    Seems to me the best power for buck in blue right now would be the 250mw job.
    Any ideas.

    By the way these are CNI lasers I am looking at.

    Thanks guys as always.

    Ray
    NZ

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Dec 2006
    Location
    Netherlands
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    983

    Default

    Hi Pitts,

    I'm not going to be able to answer your questions but a few things pop in my mind:
    First of all CNI is a good choice
    Second get as much as you can afford (in terms of cash and strain on your marriage)

    I have a 50mW CNI blue and simply having a blue beam to play with is 80% of the fun for me. Don't know how much you need extra power. Well you already have a dual Maxyz so what makes sense is to match the blue to your red power levels for white balance. I think the rule of thumb was red:blue:green is 2:1:1.
    How much red do you have?
    If you have 600mW red you will need 300mW based on this rule, go for it. Else lacking 50mW of blue will leave 100mW of red unused in RGB whitebalance application. (including green, that is $900 for 200mW RGB power).

    With respect to the dB question. Eyes and ears are very different. I expect that the 3dB increase comparisson hold for a stationary beam but not form shows. Then the power is spread out (lower power per inch) and that 25% extra power is going to count more in terms of dB.

    cheers, and enjoy the fun

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
    Location
    Yorkshire, UK
    Posts
    4,585

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    Hi Pitts

    If it's any help, I too have a dual Maxyz, this measures around 470Mw. I have a 200Mw blue laser (that measures about 230Mw) and a 300Mw green that also is more powerful than its stated output. All powers are approximate as my meter isn't officially calibrated.

    The blue seems to match the red pretty well, while the green is slightly overpowered at 300Mw. I dial the green down to get a good white balance but leave the red and blue 'as is'. It's nice to have a bit of extra green for bright beams in a beamshow.

    So, in all I just about have a 1 watt projector. This should be powerful enough for the majority of small to medium indoor venues. I considered the fact that if I wanted to do outdoor shows I would need MUCH more power than this, even into multiples of watts. So, I made the decision that I wouldn't be doing anything outdoors and was therefore happy with what i'd decided to buy.

    Whilst it's nice to have a perfect white balance, it's not absolutely necessary for it to be perfect. Most people viewing the images won't be aware of the fact that you're running with a green, red or blue bias.

    It's very easy to get hung up on power and always want more. I think your overall budget (and the amount of trouble you'll get into with your wife if you overspend) should be more important. Work out how much you want to spend and stick to it.

    Cheers

    Jem

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jan 2006
    Location
    Charleston, SC
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    2,147,489,446

    Cool

    Hi Ray;

    To answer your original question, yes - the human eye does get saturated after a certain point, so there does come a time when a 2X increase in power does not give you a 2X increase in apparent brightness.

    However, this is normally only relevent to graphics shows where your audience is looking at the beam spot reflected on a wall. In that case the power is concentrated in a small area and looks really bright. But if you're doing beam shows you're spreading that power out all over the room, and the saturation point for the eye doesn't really come into play unless you're running a lot more power.

    Having said all that, the "ideal" color ratio is 4.6 red to 2.4 blue to 1 green. Given that you're using a pair of maxyz modules for red, it's unlikely that you're getting more than 460 mw of red, so 250 mw of blue is just about perfect for your setup.

    Note that it's OK to deviate grossly from the "ideal" color balance numbers. I've seen projectors that look just fine with 2 red to 1 blue to 1 green. Likewise, most people will get a lot of extra green just because it's cheap. That gives them extra punch for beam shows; they can always dial it back to get better color balance. But in your case the fact that you're running Maxyz modules makes it easy. When calculating color balance, most projectors are limited by how much red they can make. Your example just happens to be right on the numbers for ideal color balance.

    Bottom line: I'd go with the 250 mw of blue and save the extra $900 for something else... But I'd probably spring for 300 to 500 mw of green to go with it, just to get the extra punch for a beam show. (Most of the time that green will be dialed back...)

    Adam

  5. #5
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    Cool

    So, are you going to mount this blue on your left or right wing

  6. #6
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    Mar 2007
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    My thought was to fit the blue just in front of the cockpit, synced of course to the prop..this to avoid reflections as this could intefere with flying (not a good thing in a Pitts, it moves too fast) Then in accordance with good navigation practice the red would be on the left (port) and the green on the right (starboard) however the green would be dialed back to ensure a nice balance. I guess if a could figure out the exact focal point I would have a white spot with which I Could draw on the clouds or the ground.... hmmm give that some thought .... I wonder how big a fine the courts would hand down..

    Hey guys, many thanks for your input. I guess as was commented on by Jem you have to make up your mind just how big you are going to go and it seems to me that the next step after the "one watt" area is a big one.

    I may take Adam's suggestion and go for the 250mw, the rest of the money can buy me a network box for my QM2000 card.

    Cheers

    Ray
    NZ

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Apr 2007
    Location
    Toronto Canada
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    Now the story goes, that at
    200mw the price is 2150.00 US$
    250mw the price is 2700.00 US$
    300mw the price is 3600.00 US$

    From 200 to 250 is 650$
    From 250 to 300 is 900$

    The answer is 250mw

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Nov 2005
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    Melbourne, Australia
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    Remember a 200mw blue should do in excess of 250mw, so there may not be a need to spend the extra cash on a 250mw. Especially if your limited by the power of your reds....
    KVANT Australian projector sales
    https://www.facebook.com/kvantaus/

    Lasershowparts- Laser Parts at great prices
    https://www.facebook.com/lasershowparts/

  9. #9
    Join Date
    May 2006
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    Norway, Fauske
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    Dr Laser: I also got theese prices from CNI
    BUT remember, this is for TTL modulation.
    For analogue modulation, the price is 10% higher.


    Pangolin FB3 QS/LivePro/SMS2Laser
    Riya MultiBus
    Pangolin LD2000 Pro

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Nov 2005
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    Default

    Thats correct. And for 10k analogue mod - as opposed to 2k, add another 10% again
    KVANT Australian projector sales
    https://www.facebook.com/kvantaus/

    Lasershowparts- Laser Parts at great prices
    https://www.facebook.com/lasershowparts/

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