Reason for recent increase in users online

[allthatwhichis]

I don't know how many of you pay attention, but the "Most users ever online was 503, 07-01-2007 at 20:00"; I beleive this was when there was the slashdot report on Spec and Marconi's lil 405nm handheld...

There are currently 438 users online. 120 members and 318 guests. I assume this has something to do with the 445nm group buy or the discovery of a cheap 445nm diode source.

[buffo]

Good guess!

Adam

[allthatwhichis]

Might we consider the Casio projector's way of making images the 445nm diode's killer app?

[Eidetic]

I've not really followed the 445nm conversations, but here's my question anyway. Is it profitable right now to buy a brand new projector to sell the lasers out of it?

[allthatwhichis]

I think we are about to see the end of 473nm's dominance of laser projectors for solid state blue.

I would not buy a projector just to sell the lasers; unless they come with a set of CT6125s or soemthing. If these 445s work out it will become real cheap to build a RGB projector laser wise. aiji and dave's lil RGV will be the model for the next gen 1Watt projectors that will make my Kvant look bulky...

[sugeek]

I've not really followed the 445nm conversations, but here's my question anyway. Is it profitable right now to buy a brand new projector to sell the lasers out of it?

Last week yes... This week, not so much. Thus the ebay 445's going for the price of 24 of them two weeks-month ago.

-Adam

[flecom]

I think we are about to see the end of 473nm's dominance of laser projectors for solid state blue.

due to cost, probably... but honestly.... 445 is not blue, its indigo... and i dont like it as a color, or how it mixes... but thats just personal opinion...

457 i think is going to be the nicest true blue

[buffo]

While I agree that 445 nm by itself is not an ideal blue, it is nevertheless a nice color to have in your projector. If your goal is to have an ideal color palette, then I'd say you ought to have both 445 nm and 473 nm in your projector. (Or a single laser at ~ 456 nm.)

With that said, given that these new diodes are two orders of magnitude cheaper than any other solid state blue laser, it's not hard to understand why there is so much enthusiasm for them. It really does change the game.

If these diodes turn out to be suitable for projector use (and I would just about guarantee that this is the case), then blue just went from the most expensive color to the least expensive color. I mean, come on... 500 mw of blue in a single diode for only $30? You've got to be shitting me!

I predict that if this pans out, we'll see a slow death of the use of 473 nm lasers in laser projectors. I know that if I were a laser retailer, I'd be *very* worried right now if I had a large stock of 473 nm lasers sitting on the shelf. It might be impossible to sell those lasers at any reasonable price in a few weeks / months.

Adam

[danielbriggs]

I've seen an RGB with just 445nm and it looks stunning...
Also, people make some REALLY nice projectors with just 405nm...
*just sayin'*

[buffo]

I've seen an RGB with just 445nm and it looks stunning...

Agreed. I've seen 445 nm side-by-side with 473 nm in paired RGB projectors. I've also seen RGBV projectors with both 473 nm and 405 nm. And while they all can produce amazing colors, and admittedly the 445 nm projector does produce a better white, I still feel that projectors with a 473 nm blue in them look better for the vast majority of frames. (Especially graphics frames)

In a projector with only 445 nm blue, you don't have a light blue like you'd see in the daytime sky. And that's an important color to have. Sure, in theory you can just add some 532 nm green to get that color, but in all of the projectors with 445 nm blue that I've seen (including the $30,000 + Infinity-series 3 watt RB rigs they had on the ILDA cruise back in 2008), I've *never* seen this done effectively. People always say it can be done, but I've yet to see it work as advertised. It always ends up looking like cyan.

Don't get me wrong: 445 nm blue is an awesome color in it's own right. And given that the cost has now dropped to insanely affordable levels, I think we'll see a lot more of this color in projectors in the future. And maybe in time people will forget about the missing "light blue" of the 473 nm lasers.

But I'll always want some 473 nm blue in my projector.

Adam

[danielbriggs]

But I'll always want some 473 nm blue in my projector.

Me too
(Seeing as I forked out a small fortune to buy 250mW of it!)
But it is my favourite laser

[buffo]

Me too
(Seeing as I forked out a small fortune to buy 250mW of it!)
But it is my favourite laser

250 mw? That's got to hurt the wallet!

But yeah, this is the biggest change that I think we'll see. 473 nm lasers are *expensive*, and likely will remain so. But it appears that 445 nm blue is now going to be dirt cheap. (Less expensive than even 405 nm violet!) So I believe we'll see a rapid move towards 445 nm blue as the new standard for "blue" in solid state projectors.

Sure, guys like you and I who already have 473 nm lasers will continue to use them, but I think it's doubtful that newer projectors will include this color. (In fact, I'm planning on building a beam-only projector this summer that will only have 445 nm blue in it, so in a way the shift away from 473 nm blue has already started for me. I know I'll miss the bright blue in this new projector, but I can't afford 300 mw of 473 nm blue to put in this rig. But I can surely afford 500 mw of 445 nm blue!)

In a few years, I predict that 473 nm lasers will be quite rare compared to today. I think it will be interesting to see how the artwork changes to deal with the shift towards 445 nm blue as the "new blue"...

Adam

[-bart-]

I know that if I were a laser retailer, I'd be *very* worried right now if I had a large stock of 473 nm lasers sitting on the shelf. It might be impossible to sell those lasers at any reasonable price in a few weeks / months.

473nm laserpointers just have become instantly worthless, 1+Watt 445 pointers will be common in no time.

[Eidetic]

473nm laserpointers just have become instantly worthless, 1+Watt 445 pointers will be common in no time.

That's a REAL shame. There's NO reason for more than 5mW for use as a "pointer". A "pointer" only needs to be bright enough to point to the subject of interest.

All these lasers in handheld cases with outputs higher than that are toys for those with serious Star Wars light sabre fantasies. What's another use for that much power being hand held? To light matches? To burn bugs? One Watt to burn a bug???

Sooner or later little Davey from the LPF will blind little Susie (who doesn't care one bit about lasers or the Start Wars fantasy life of little Davey), and we'll have the requirement for a license to buy ANY laser from then on. This is inevitable.

As soon as anyone wants to actually DO something with their laser's beam of light, the laser needs to be mounted rigidly to something. Handheld lasers with outputs over 5mW are directed energy weapons, not toys, and should be treated as such in my opinion.

[-bart-]

I'd say ... not all the participants of the 445 groupbuy will be putting their diode in a projector.

[Eidetic]

"Use The Force, Luke."

[flecom]

also possibly stupid question but everyones super happy ripping apart these unsuspecting projectors... has anyone tried "playing back" a beam/graphic show with one and seeing what the results are?

[allthatwhichis]

also possibly stupid question but everyones super happy ripping apart these unsuspecting projectors... has anyone tried "playing back" a beam/graphic show with one and seeing what the results are?

Definatly a couple thousand dollar question.

[MisterWilling]

I just put 473 and 405 in my projector. I guess I'm going to have to cram the 445 in there somehow. My 405 dichro is from semrock so it will pass the 445. I guess I can combine the 473 and 445 with a PBS and I could get it done!

[allthatwhichis]

Most users ever online was 507, Today at 18:59...

[buffo]

Then it's official! We've broken the record. (Hard to believe it took almost 3 years.) The 445 nm diode craze is the new king driving traffic to PL.

Adam

[DanBarlow]

Then it's official! We've broken the record. (Hard to believe it took almost 3 years.) The 445 nm diode craze is the new king driving traffic to PL.

Adam

I've been over on alt.lasers since the '90s because I mostly have a design interest, but this topic was enough to turn me from a guest lurker to a member. Which may or may not be a benefit to you guys. ;-)
-Dan Barlow
My lasers at http://www.bobdbob.com/~graysoul/c315m
and http://www.bobdbob.com/~graysoul/argonlaser

[DZ]

I've been over on alt.lasers since the '90s because I mostly have a design interest, but this topic was enough to turn me from a guest lurker to a member. Which may or may not be a benefit to you guys. ;-)
-Dan Barlow
My lasers at http://www.bobdbob.com/~graysoul/c315m
and http://www.bobdbob.com/~graysoul/argonlaser

Welcome to PL, Dan. Glad we could drag another one from the AM side of the internet, hope you turned the lights out when you left. I haven't been on alt.lasers in years!

I see you're in DC, you should consider joining us at SELEM in August.

[Photonbeam]

also possibly stupid question but everyones super happy ripping apart these unsuspecting projectors... has anyone tried "playing back" a beam/graphic show with one and seeing what the results are?

Look at videos or stills of 445nm lasers with the casio projector. Astonishing color! Look at that photo everyone has seen of the arctos with the cover off!

[buffo]

I've been over on alt.lasers since the '90s because I mostly have a design interest, but this topic was enough to turn me from a guest lurker to a member. Which may or may not be a benefit to you guys.

Hi Dan! Welcome to PhotonLexicon. New members are always a benefit. (Especially one's with experience.) Nice Lexel you've got there. (Looks like a 95...)

I see you're in DC, you should consider joining us at SELEM in August.

I second this! Have a look in the Meet and Greet sub-forum and check out the SELEM threads. I think you'd have a blast, and I know we'd all enjoy meeting you.

Adam