Viasho 4W 532nm Laser System Review!

[Laser Ben]

Review of the new
Viasho 4W 532nm Laser system!



So as many of you commented and drooled over, Viasho released a new 3W 532nm laser system with a very small laser head. I asked Frank if I could do a review of one for the forum and he agreed. He spent some time coming up with a smaller driver for the laser so it is easier to integrate into a projector. Here is my review of this amazing new laser system!

The system showed up Yesterday in the morning from a DHL guy who seemed as though he might have had a hangover from Thanksgiving! The system was very well packaged with plenty of foam in the box and the laser head and power supply wrapped in bubble wrap.

Laser Head


Power Supply


One of the things I really appreciated was the fact that Frank sent an American style IEC cord to get the system up and running right away!


I quickly got the laser set up and turned on, it booted right up and made tons of power!


I thought it looked a little bright, my meter agreed!


I then proceed to do a 10 hour stability test at full power:


Turns out to be pretty stable! Over that 10 hours, the results showed:
Max Power:4.7617W
Min Power:4.4928W
Mean Power:4.6566W
Standard Deviation: 40.71mW
That is a stability of 0.8742%

I will fill in this area with more data on modulation tomorrow! I need to get my function generator back from a friend!
Beam profile and Divergence measurements will be updated as well tomorrow, I can say however, the beam is very small and divergence is quite low! I will have actual numbers soon.

My thoughts on the laser:
This laser is the highest quality Chinese made product I have ever used, the parts all fit together, it has that high quality feel, it looks and performs great, and on top of all that, it is a totally new design that is just what we needed! This laser is tiny, when it showed up, I thought there would be two boxes, one for the head and one for the power supply, I was amazed when I opened up the 12x12x10" box and found the entire system with plenty of packing!

The umbilical on the laser is great! It is not too long or too big in diameter, but it is still a reasonable size and flexibility that it is easy to work with and route. Additionally, the connector used to connect the head to the power supply is a very high quality HD-15, with a nice metal housing, it plugs in and stays in even without the screws. It is small enough that you could cut a hole in a base plate and pass it through.

The laser head has amazing machine work, it appears to be all CNC'd, and it fits together very nicely, all the parts have very tight tolerances, the screw holes are exactly where Franks drawing said they would be, there are no protruding screws or wires. It is a nice single piece with the laser built directly onto a heatsink for optimal heat transfer. The back of the head has a 60x25mm fan which moves a serious amount of air. My only gripe is that the fan blows air towards the aperture when it would be ideal if it sucked away from the optics.

The power supply is also very nice, it is quite small, measuring only 144x84x218mm. The front panel is very simple and well marked, it has a LED screen to show current and temperatures, a multiturn knob to adjust power, and and on/off switch. There is also an LED to indicate that there is a problem with the laser or power supply.

On the back of the power supply, there are connections for power, modulation, and the laser head. The modulation is delivered by a female BNC connector. There are nicely marked switches to change between analogue, + TTL, and - TTL modulation. There is also a switch to select what the front panel displays.

To sum up the review:
This system is amazing, Chinese lasers are getting better all the time and this is proof. It is very nicely made and the design shows the thought that went into it. Every detail was thought through and carefully considered. Parts fit together very well, and they look nice. This would be a laser I would choose over any other Chinese system.

Good:

• Very Small
• High Power
• Stable
• Easy to use power supply
• High quality fit and finish
• Nice modulation input connector
• Great umbilical length/material

Bad:

• Fans are loud
• Current Adjustment Pot needs work (not linear)

Improvements:

• Quieter Fans
• Air Blowing away from optics instead of onto them
• Integrated Photodiode for modulation correction
• Key Switch on Front Panel
• Integrated Hour-Meter

AND NOW FOR PICTURES!

[Laserman532]

nice review, nice laser...but I dont see a keyswitch.

[gogu]

Wow! that's a sick looking laser.
Thanks for the review Ben!
Ps. love the pictures

Does it need a keyswitch if its only an oem component of a projector?

He spent some time coming up with a smaller driver for the laser so it is easier to integrate into a projector.

[norty303]

Shouldn't the sticker read Class IV rather than class 3b?

[FourDee]

Nice review. I think though that the DB-15 is not a suitable connector to shoot 10 amps through. But it's not only Viasho who uses those ...

[mliptack]

Ben, does the beam leave the laser off axis in any way. Thats one thing I always look for, but its hard to tell in pictures.

How are the modulation tests going? We cant wait to see the pictures!

[Laserman532]

Wow! that's a sick looking laser.
Thanks for the review Ben!
Ps. love the pictures

Does it need a keyswitch if its only an oem component of a projector?

slippery slope right there...I will say...it "SHOULD" require a keyswitch OEM requirements are another can of worms.

[ElektroFreak]

That is one awesome laser.. I'm very impressed. If the Chinese keep this up, some of the American brands might have to lower their prices. I'm interested in seeing a beam profile..

[Laser Ben]

slippery slope right there...I will say...it "SHOULD" require a keyswitch OEM requirements are another can of worms.

I agree, if you have a small power supply like the kind you get from Laserwave, then that should not need a key switch, one like this, which could easily be used as a stand alone laser needs to have one.

[Laserman532]

you restrict your market by omitting the key switch. This laser is illegal in the US unless the purchaser has agreed (and can provide the proper documentation) to install it as a component in another piece of certified equipment.

Why people can build a beautiful piece of equipment like this and leave out an essential piece of required safety equipment ($1.89) will always baffle me.