Jem
10-08-2014, 10:50 AM
Hi all
I recently saw a video on FaceBook forum that showed a DJ set up on a small stage. The DJ had a powerful laser pointing straight out into the crowd projecting pretty patterns. Now, i'm not going to get into discussion regarding crowd safety as that could take up a whole thread on its own. BUT, the laser was also pointing straight at a roof mounted DLP projector with several beams passing the lens.
These projectors are extremely sensitive to laser light. It only takes a few mW of laser light to hit the lens of the projector directly and this will result in damage to the sensitive chip inside. This will manifest itself as black dots in the projected image. As these projectors can often cost a few thousand pounds I figured it was worth a post just to warn any DJ's that use lasers to be very careful to avoid direct hits to the lenses of these projectors. The same goes for pretty much any camera or mobile phone camera, don't point 'em directly at your laser to take pictures of the beams otherwise you risk damaging the chip. I'm just trying to warn you so that you don't get landed with an expensive bill.
Oh, and once you've seen the damage lasers can do to DLP chips, it might be worth reflecting on the damage they can do to your retina's as well ;) <runs and ducks for cover>
I recently saw a video on FaceBook forum that showed a DJ set up on a small stage. The DJ had a powerful laser pointing straight out into the crowd projecting pretty patterns. Now, i'm not going to get into discussion regarding crowd safety as that could take up a whole thread on its own. BUT, the laser was also pointing straight at a roof mounted DLP projector with several beams passing the lens.
These projectors are extremely sensitive to laser light. It only takes a few mW of laser light to hit the lens of the projector directly and this will result in damage to the sensitive chip inside. This will manifest itself as black dots in the projected image. As these projectors can often cost a few thousand pounds I figured it was worth a post just to warn any DJ's that use lasers to be very careful to avoid direct hits to the lenses of these projectors. The same goes for pretty much any camera or mobile phone camera, don't point 'em directly at your laser to take pictures of the beams otherwise you risk damaging the chip. I'm just trying to warn you so that you don't get landed with an expensive bill.
Oh, and once you've seen the damage lasers can do to DLP chips, it might be worth reflecting on the damage they can do to your retina's as well ;) <runs and ducks for cover>