Lasers Technical

[Norfolk DJ 0]

 

When considering buying a laser what does the Mw rating mean eg 150mw or 250mw

 

thanks

[superstardeejay 0]

milliwatts, ie thousandths of a watt. The way laser power is measured.

 

Your average commercial nightclub will use a laser between 5 to 20 watts, (5000 to 20000mW) and your average DJ shop will sell units between 5mW (laser crab) to 100mW or thereabouts.

 

So if you've seen that laser on the Frankie 'Relax' video, dont go expecting a similar effect from a 60mW Equinox...

 

http://im.videosearch.rediff.com/thumbImage/videoImages/videoImages1/youtube/rdhash558/lyl5DlrsU90.gif

 

Short video of Rill 5000mW (5W) lasers at a club

 

http://www.rill.tv/clips/clip5.mpg

 

The power is written as mW, small m for milli and large W for the the name of the guy Watt.

Edited November 7, 2009 by superstardeejay

[Norfolk DJ 0]

 

So as a rule , the higher MW the better?

[norty303 0]

Your average commercial nightclub will use a laser between 5 to 20 watts

 

I think that may be overstating it somewhat. Perhaps in the old gas head days, but nowadays 2 watt dpss lasers are pretty impressive alone. It also depends on the size of the club.

 

A 400mW 532nm (green) laser will adequately do a club of 300 or so.

 

So as a rule , the higher MW the better?

 

Well, more dangerous at least! But yes, brighter = better in the laser game, more defined beams, less smoke required to make them visible, 'WOW factor', etc

 

Just be fully aware of the risks if you are in the market for a laser bigger than the average 'DJ' unit.

 

 

[Bouncy Dancefloor 0]

also different colours tend to need bigger power to look the same as another colour

 

red tends to be very dull, then green, then blue

 

hence why a kam star cluster is 100mw red and only 40mw green, yet they appear the same brightness

 

the programming can make a light look brighter/duller than others too, if they do lots of very fast things, they will seem dim, if they are doing lots of solid lines, they seem brighter

[Norfolk DJ 0]

also different colours tend to need bigger power to look the same as another colour

 

red tends to be very dull, then green, then blue

 

hence why a kam star cluster is 100mw red and only 40mw green, yet they appear the same brightness

 

the programming can make a light look brighter/duller than others too, if they do lots of very fast things, they will seem dim, if they are doing lots of solid lines, they seem brighter

 

Good advice chaps.

 

This is making me lean towards the Prollight 240mw lasers compared to the dim 140/150mw. :dukesy:

[norty303 0]

Also the particular wavelength of a colour is very significant to brightness.

 

For greens you're fairly limited to 532nm (for common affordable DPSS), and this is the most bright to the human eye for a given power.

 

There are a range of reds available now 635, 642, 650 and 660. I've just bought a 1.1watt 650nm head and a 635 of about half the power will be as bright, but much more orange. 660 are very deep blood red but require silly powers to see (and hence more dangerous)

 

Blues come in a few options, 473 being the most popular as its brighter for the money, but is starting to get a bit cyan in colour. Blues are by far the most expensive of the 3 for a given power output. Be wary of cheap 'blue' lasers using 405nm bluray diodes. They are basically violet/ultraviolet and don't really do very much in a laser display. Be very clear what you are buying when looking at non-green sources as they can differ greatly between wavelengths.

 

This is how the human eye sees the different wavelengths as far as brightness goes.

 

 

http://jfly.iam.u-tokyo.ac.jp/html/color_blind/image/laser.gif

Edited November 10, 2009 by norty303

[Norfolk DJ 0]

 

ok

 

thanks for the advice :Thumbup: