Purchase dilemma

[sk_1810]

Hello everybody!

We are investing in a new projector and we have a big dilemma, so I would be grateful for your input....

The choice is:
a)Kvant Spectrum RGB 1W or 1.6W
or
b)MediaLas PowerVX 2W 532nm

My biggest concern is the power/visibility of the Kvant unit, because we want to be able to use it for larger spaces and maybe smaller outdoor venues as well...

Multiple colors are not imperative, but welcome, thus the dilemma...

Thanks in advance...

[Doc]

If an rgb is not necessary and maximum brightness is required then the greeny is the answer. Two Watts of 532 is going to be *far* brighter than a 1.6W RGB.

The RGB is *far* sexier though!

[allthatwhichis]

Just a quick opinion... full color is always more "moving" to me than monochrome. I also have a 1W Kvant RGB...

[shrad]

for me, if people are seeing a huge green laser, they will think "wow, that thing is sure bright", but if they are seeing a little less bright RGB, they will be mindblowed

one more thing is what kind of music will be played... I think green lasers are assimilated to electronic music, but with a RGB you'll be able to expand to other styles as well and even do nice colour graphics, which is more susceptible to be in harmony with the peoples feelings if you play rock or pop

anyway, this is a dilemma, and a good thing would perhaps be meeting some people who own the two setups, and make your decision after having experienced the two ways

[sk_1810]

for me, if people are seeing a huge green laser, they will think "wow, that thing is sure bright", but if they are seeing a little less bright RGB, they will be mindblowed

one more thing is what kind of music will be played... I think green lasers are assimilated to electronic music, but with a RGB you'll be able to expand to other styles as well and even do nice colour graphics, which is more susceptible to be in harmony with the peoples feelings if you play rock or pop

anyway, this is a dilemma, and a good thing would perhaps be meeting some people who own the two setups, and make your decision after having experienced the two ways

I agree with you regarding the advantages of the RGB system. The problem is the output power. I think that spending 6k or 7k euros for a system which can only be used in small venues isn't a very good choice (maybe I'm wrong )...

As for testing units - in my country there is only one more company which has lasers, and there is no chance that they would allow me to just "come and see their systems"...

[shrad]

well in that case you might consider the type of venues you will make

if you need exterior, go green

if you only need interior, think about RGB and green

so the dilemma is still there

[White-Light]

1.6W should look pretty good in an indoor venue this side of a football stadium provided its smoked or hazed properly.

Insanity has had a 1 Watt whitelight laser for some time for professional shows so he can probably advise you on the kind of venues size wise it will work well in.

Outside yes its going to be far less impressive because of the problems of smoking / hazing the area. As Doc said, green is by far the brightest colour, so outside will give you the best visibility.

Just to throw another option in the pot, one thing you could do is get a Spectrum for indoors and then pick up a CuBr for outside (OVERHEAD ONLY - THEY'RE PULSED) use. They're relatively cheaply available second hand (although you do need big scanners) and will give you multiwatt powers far in excess of 2W.

This is a 10 Watt rated(?) CuBr we had at UKLEM last year (bearing in mind its pulsed its probably nearer 40 Watts+:

[Steve Milani]

@ SK_1810

Hoping to help you to choose...

Take a look at this short movie I made few days ago. Watch from 2:29 minutes to the end of movie.
http://stevemilani.blip.tv/file/2480708/
You can see:
- on left screen 1W RGB;
- on right screen 650-680mw RGB.
They are both playing a multi-color "wheel" of rays.

Infos for your better valuation:
- venue dimensions was about 20x10 meters;
- n°2 smoke/hazer machines (there was also a very boring "gentle breeze" coming from sea ) this means not so much smoke into venue
- movie taken about 15 meters far from laser projectors.

Greetings!
Steve

[Insanity]

I had a 1watt RGB for some time and it was pretty good in venue's up to 500 capacity. Outdoors it was useless. The problem is, as the beam travels further it looks weaker and more washed out. I have now upgraded to nearer 2.5watts which should fill a much bigger venue. You have to be careful selecting an RGB laser off the shelf, if it uses a long wavelength red, most of that watt will be red power, to get the white balance right. I had a very short wavelength red which was equal in power to the green and blue, but it still wasn't enough to look really spectacular in a big venue. You also need to consider that for overhead work you will need even more power to give that impact and wow factor.

Mark

[JimBo]

Have you thought about getting the RGB and adding extra green?
Best of both worlds.

Jim