OPT 40, DT40, DT50 Scanners?

[Slide]

Thinking of getting an OPT Lasers PR8000-RGB Laser for a new project and OPT is willing to upgrade the stock OPT40 scanners if requested. Haven't bought any mid range scan sets for a while.

We've had good luck with the DT40s for the price, but I see there's a DT50 now and am wondering if anyone might know what the difference might be. We've not used the OPT40 scanners, so wondering about them also.

The new PR8000 series apparently features full fiber shaping for sharper beams and a new driver board for good white at 5% brightness.

Thanks in advance

[buffo]

The DT50 scanners are rated to 50kpps, so in theory they should be 20 ~ 25 % faster than the DT40 units. Your mileage may vary, however.

I would recommend upgrading to the DT40 units at least, as I've experienced a few artifacts with the stock OPT scanners when running spiral rasters and complex lissajous patterns. And if the DT50 scanners were only a little more, I'd probably go that route just to have the extra headroom.

Note that you probably don't want to actually run them at 50K... It's better to tune them for 30K and enjoy the much wider scan angle. (That's what I've done with my projectors that have DT40 scanners.)

If you have some very detailed graphics shows that would benefit from the faster scan speed, then you could run them at 50K, but keep in mind that you'll need to watch your scan angle so they don't overheat.

Adam

[Slide]

The DT50 scanners are rated to 50kpps, so in theory they should be 20 ~ 25 % faster than the DT40 units. Your mileage may vary, however.

I would recommend upgrading to the DT40 units at least, as I've experienced a few artifacts with the stock OPT scanners when running spiral rasters and complex lissajous patterns. And if the DT50 scanners were only a little more, I'd probably go that route just to have the extra headroom.

Note that you probably don't want to actually run them at 50K... It's better to tune them for 30K and enjoy the much wider scan angle. (That's what I've done with my projectors that have DT40 scanners.)

If you have some very detailed graphics shows that would benefit from the faster scan speed, then you could run them at 50K, but keep in mind that you'll need to watch your scan angle so they don't overheat.

Adam

Thanks so much! That's just the info I was hoping to find. Yes, 30k for sure.

We have some projectors that have been using the DT 40 scanners for 10 years in the Planetarium. We are finding that they are a pretty good budget device.

Our shows are about 50/50 Fulldome video and laser imagery so the scanners get a chance to cool down during the shows. Floyd Rollefstad and Casey Stack always use to remark on the longevity factor.
I was planning to upgrade from the OPT 40 scanners and they will charge $70 for that. I've got a request in for a price for a DT 50 upgrade, and we may try them out.

Thanks again

[absolom7691]

I have a set of DT50s. Solid performers. Things may have changed since I bought mine but I don't believe the DT50s come with a power supply. That being said, be sure to use a beefy PSU as they are a little power hungry and you need a PSU that can handle the current spikes needed for braking/accel the large mirrors. As Adam said, run these at 30K. DT50 does not necessarily mean that they are 50K scanners. Mine came tuned to 40K which I immediately tuned down to 30K.

Also note... just because you'll be running shows at 30K, if your scanners are tuned to 40K or 50K, you will need to retune to 30K, otherwise you're just wasting power in the way of heat generation along with added wear and tear on the galvos.

[Slide]

I have a set of DT50s. Solid performers. Things may have changed since I bought mine but I don't believe the DT50s come with a power supply. That being said, be sure to use a beefy PSU as they are a little power hungry and you need a PSU that can handle the current spikes needed for braking/accel the large mirrors. As Adam said, run these at 30K. DT50 does not necessarily mean that they are 50K scanners. Mine came tuned to 40K which I immediately tuned down to 30K.

Also note... just because you'll be running shows at 30K, if your scanners are tuned to 40K or 50K, you will need to retune to 30K, otherwise you're just wasting power in the way of heat generation along with added wear and tear on the galvos.

Thanks so much, all good info! As it turns out the OPT PR8000-RGB is too small to fit the DT 50 electronics and mirrors in. They say they use the DT 50s in 20w and higher lasers. So... makes the decision easy ha ha, I'm going with the DT 40s.

Should be here mid April, we'll see how it looks.

Cheers.