Laserworld CL-RGB 2000

[SideFX]

Hi All!

I've been away from this forum for some time now, mainly due to lack of time... But this i thought was worth sharing on PL

The last year I've done a bunch of indoor shows in local venues with my hand built projectors (2x 600mW RGY's, and 1x1.5W RGB) with 3x FB3 and Livepro, and also done some outdoor shows as a freelancer with LBF (http://laserbeamfactory.com/) in Holland and Germany, but also Brasil once

I wanted a second RGB projector in my rig.. but I didn't want the hassle of completely building one from scratch again. I had my share of fun building and extending a couple of projectors. For me the challenge now is doing a good live show which complements the music being played.

I started looking around and got attracted by a projector from Laserworld, the CL-RGB2000.

Specifications according to the seller:
- 2000mW RGB
- minimal 150mW 532nm, 500mW 655nm, 450mW 445nm
- minimal total power: 1100mW
- scanrate max 30kpps (no angle given)
- no modulation type (TTL/analog) mentioned

Now of course we all know how to interpret these Laserworld specs. Laserworld calls it a '2000mW RGB laser', but it guarantees no more than 1100mW.. probably due to legal issues So I was not expecting to receive more then this 1100mW
A colleague here in Holland had done measurements on a CS-RGB1500 (which has identical 'guaranteed' specs as the CL-RGB2000), and it was indeed 1100mW. No more.. but no less either.

It was especially the housing of the CL-RGB which caught my interest.. nice and small but solid.. capable of housing 3 colors, a nice mounting brace, and no big 'Laserworld' logo on the front
What if I could take just this case and built my own components into it. Ofcourse Laserworld would never sell just the case..
The CS-RGB1500 has a buy-now price of $2,552.49 (EUR1,714.00). After clicking around on the sellers page (http://myworld.ebay.com/lep-laser_de, probably just another ebay alias for laserworld) I noticed the CL-RGB2000's were being offered for bidding from EUR 1,-.

So I decided to take a shot.. thought of a max to bid.. and before I knew it I was a winner for only $970,- (EUR 650,-)

Of course it could be a total disappointment.. but it had the same 'guaranteed' specs as the CS-RGB1500, which I've seen being measured.
So for EUR 650,- I would at least receive:
- a nice case
- a blue casio diode with driver,
- (presumably) 30k scanners
- some optics, PSU, and 2 small lasers red and green lasers I could probably sell off again if it was crap.
- the ability to review a Laserworld projector on PL
So no big loss here.

A week later a box arrived and out came a nice black projector!


First thing I did was hook it up an FB3 with LivePro, and do some patterns.

I tried the standard test pattern.. and the projector made rubbish of it :s no picture yet as my phone wasn't able to capture it correctly. But it looked like these were just a set of 12k scanners.. and the modulation seemed way off.. Now i noticed the mirrors were rather big.. more power (or.. less loss from big red) seems more important than higher scanrate..

Apart from this the colors were ok, perfectly lined up! The red is ofcourse gigantic, especially with the bigger mirrors. After the green warmed up white seemed pretty well balanced.
I checked the seperate colors.. blue and red.. nice analogue modulated.
Then green.. and.. wtf..? TTL modulation? It just went on and off. Why not all TTL or all analogue? Well later we'll take a look inside so who knows..

Next thing I did was measuring the powers with my trusty scientech 362


The green did 130mW (.3W scale)


Red did around 400mW (1W scale)


..and blue was doing 450mW (1W scale).
So blue seems to be the only color which is as specced No suprise ofcourse.. as the diode can produce up to 1.5W..
The total power produced is 980mW..

Next step: take it apart!


Here you see the basic layout. The modules are all mounted on a thick alu plate.
The optic mounts seem more rugged then what laserworld used in the past..



Check the big mirrors on the scanner!

This sure as hell brings down the max pps..


Here a closeup of the scanner driver. never seen it before..


Same goes for the 3 lasermodule drivers, which seem identical:

This is the green driver, with a green led The blue and red drivers have equivalent blue and red led.. nice touch Only one pot on all three of them.. guess the green doesn't have TEC cooling (as well as the red and blue), which I've seen more often with laserworld modules smaller than 150mW.
Anyone recognizes these drivers?

Hey but wait a minute..
I see 2 2-pin headers on the drivers. On the green driver the top header has a wire connected, must presumably the modulation input.. But the red one has the lower header connected, and a jumper on the top one. Same goes for the blue.



Didn't I just found out that the green has TTL modulation, and the blue/red analog?
Was it going to be this easy? Top header TTL modulation, bottom header analog modulation..?
I tested with the blue module first (cheapest diode ), to see if I could switch modulation type this way. I removed the jumper and switched the wire to the top header, just as with the green driver.
we got TTL! So top header is indeed TTL, bottom analog
Now for the big prize.. on the green driver I switched the wire to the lower header, put a jumper on the top header.. and.. crap.. still TTL.

The ilda breakout board has some logic circuits on it.. could it be the signal was made TTL from there..? would they actually go through this trouble? Let's find out. I connected the blue modulation signal (which did analog) to the green driver, set up a blue pattern.. and.. ANALOG!
in godsname why :s just to tease us laserfreaks?

So we have to get this breakout board out of the way, which is making my green mod signal ttl. Maybe there is a simple alteration I can make to it to make it analog.. something for part 2 I guess

Improvements for the CL-RGB I have in mind:
- alter or replace the ilda breakout board so the green gets analog mod
As the projector should match up with my current 1.5W RGB(635,532,445)
- beef up red diode to at least 600mW 655nm, or replace it for a 635/640nm
- beef up or replace green with a miniature laserwave to 200mW-300mW
- do some scannerdriver tuning.. or replace with decent 30k?

More to come!

[allthatwhichis]

Nice review, although it still shows Laserworld in a poor light, even if it was an "ok" eBay score for the price.

The projector power "listed" and the laser powers are not in line; to me it should be producing at least 2 watts. I say they should be selling that projector as a 1W, not a 2W.

The scanners sound like they are crap and even a 1W projector should have decent enough scanners to do the ILDA test pattern correctly.

Those got to be the strangest dichro mounts I have seen... Not bad, just odd.

Again, nice review but dammit Laserworld, y'all still ain't getting it right.

[SideFX]

Again, nice review but dammit Laserworld, y'all still ain't getting it right.

Thanks.. and indeed.. For the money I paid it is a ok product.. but still they are dishonest towards their clients with their specifications. I send an email with a couple of questions.. no answer ofcourse.

[SideFX]

I made some more pictures. Sorry for the crappy testpatterns! My wall aint big enough..



Close up of the signal demolishing ilda-breakout board


Close up of a lasermodule driver


Ilda testpattern @10k


Testpattern @15k


Testpattern @20k


Testpattern @30k


random square pattern.. should be square, but has some artifacts. I believe there are some modulation issues, maybe induced by the crappy ilda breakout board. I will test tonight with the breakout board removed and the modulation lines attached directly to the db25 pins.

[soforene]

That 30k pattern made me lolz.

Attachment 24886

[White-Light]

Only the 10K looks right to me (albeit in need of tuning).

15k breaks up the vertical lines down the right hand side (unless of course the cameras just picking up the end / start of the scan)

[teknofon]

found this on ebay http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...=STRK:MEWAX:IT
looks like the same 445
is it any good?

[allthatwhichis]

found this on ebay http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...=STRK:MEWAX:IT
looks like the same 445
is it any good?

No, I am sure you can get one built from one of us on the forum for that price.

[SideFX]

found this on ebay http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...=STRK:MEWAX:IT
looks like the same 445
is it any good?

Yeah thats definately the one.. first time I see these modules sold seperately
I've bought some stuff from Snoctony in the past.. nothing to complain about, he even replaced a 635nm module which was putting out less power then specced.

He also has another 445nm module with the same specs, but with a bigger head and different PSU which is cheaper:
http://cgi.ebay.com/1W-445nm-laser-m...-/120711310127

No, I am sure you can get one built from one of us on the forum for that price.

that's true.. these modules from snoctony are nice.. but still they are cheap builds.. someone on this forum will be able to sell you better quality for the same price.

[teknofon]

that would have been great
to bad, i'm in a little bit of hurry
i've bought the other you mentioned
it seems like the one i've bought has a tighter beam
now i just have to wait and see if it's the right choice