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There are gas lasers, then there are solid-state lasers. Now there's a third category: "solid-gas technology." The manufacturer, Lumalaser, calls it a major breakthrough in graphics projectors. "What YAG lasers have done for beam effects in the way of portability and brightness, the Colorburst projector is doing for graphics," said Casey Stack of Stack Technical Services, who developed the product. The Colorburst combines two solid-state red laser diodes (combined output about 70 mW) with an argon laser producing 150 mW. The lasers are packaged in a shoebox-sized housing that also includes a NEOS PCAOM, Cambridge scanners and a lumia wheel. The projector comes with a universal voltage input (110vac-240vac, single phase) and accepts ILDA and DMX signal inputs. Stack said the Colorburst can hold its own against much higher-powered RGB projectors. One reason is the use of red diodes instead of a krypton laser. The diodes products a brighter shade of red than a krypton and, because they are directly modulated, avoid the 40-60% power loss associated with modulated kryptons. Another plus is the Laser Physics argon source, which produces an extremely low-divergence TEM00 beam. Lumalaser is a division of Zigco Innovations, a leading supplier of laser, electrical and mechanical special effects for the motion picture industry. The Colorburst will be demonstrated at the 2002 ILDA Trade Show in Orlando. |
