Page 1 of 6 12345 ... LastLast
Results 1 to 10 of 54

Thread: FB3 brightness?

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jul 2009
    Location
    San Francisco
    Posts
    75

    Question FB3 brightness?

    Hi everybody,

    I'm an avid lurker of this forum and enjoy every bits of it
    I have a small RGB analog projector that pushes out about 600 mW. I have an old AlphaLite somewhere in a box but now I'm running Mamba 2.0 and more recently FB3.
    I noticed that the FB3 output is much dimmer than Mamba playing the same show.
    I searched the forum a lot and came across this thread:

    http://www.photonlexicon.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4733&highlight=FB3+Brightness
    Ante talks about ~2 to 4% loss but in my case it looks more like 30% loss. On a green full on frame using FB3 my green is jelly beaning like some blanking is applied as opposed to full on with Mamba. Could it be a connection problem? single ended vs differential? I haven't probed my projector yet to see if the modulation is grounded to pin 25 or not and I don't have a scope to check modulation voltages. I would like to ear on how do you guys deal with this issue. My laser isn't that powerful to start with but now it looks more like a toy.
    Thanks.

    Fred.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Dec 2007
    Location
    The West
    Posts
    1,285

    Default

    Carefull what you ask, I was recently told, that its because i dont know / understand the software. Apparently , Pangolin was designed for professionals only, so good luck if your trying to learn it, after all....... there is no included training materials.

    on the Bright side!
    you can go and buy Insanity's training video....

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Mar 2009
    Location
    New Orleans, LA USA
    Posts
    402

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by carlos3621 View Post
    Carefull what you ask, I was recently told, that its because i dont know / understand the software. Apparently , Pangolin was designed for professionals only, so good luck if your trying to learn it, after all....... there is no included training materials...
    You asked about livePRO but he is using LiveQuick.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Dec 2007
    Location
    The West
    Posts
    1,285

    Default

    (sarcasm alert!) !!!

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jul 2009
    Location
    San Francisco
    Posts
    75

    Default

    Sarcasm aside, I'm far from being a laser professional. This is a candid question. BTW, this applies to LiveQuick and ShowRider. I was considering upgrading to LivePro but I feel a little reticent right now...

    Fred.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Jul 2006
    Location
    Connecticut, USA
    Posts
    2,478

    Default

    hi fred-

    1. i have good luck with connecting ALL, EVERY SINGLE, ground together at one CENTRAL location and then grounding that location to ILDA 25.

    SEE HERE

    2. Without a scope it will be hard to see if you are getting full 5V out on each color line. Do you have a laser power meter?

    3. if you have a laser meter, do each color line spearate and check your output of each laser. make sure you are getting full power.

    4. if you dont have a laser meter, still do each color line separate, first- just "draw" a full power dot in live quick. (make sure to hit control while clicking your dot to get a full power beam).
    put a volt meter on the output. in theory, this should be pretty damn close to 5V. all you are doing is telling the controller to output "Full power green beam (do it with blue and red also)" so, you should get 5V out on that color line. you shouldnt need a scope for that. youre just checking to see if the color line goes high.
    repeat for blue and red. but do them SEPARATELY.

    hope this helps.

    -Marc
    http://www.laserist.org/images/ildalogos/ILDA-logo_colored-beams_Corporate_150w.jpg

    ILDA- U.S. Laser Regulatory Committee

    Authorized Dealer for:

    • Pangolin Laser Software and Hardware
    • KVANT Laser Modules & Laser Systems
    • X-Laser USA
    • CNI Lasers
    • Cambridge Technology & Eye Magic Professional Scanning Systems

    FDA/CDRH Certified Professional LuminanceRGB Laser Light Show Systems


  7. #7
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    East Sussex, England
    Posts
    5,248

    Default

    I thought that Bill said you couldn't measure this with a meter due to the fact that Pangolin still modulate the output for whatever reasons

    In a private message to me, you mentioned that you measured the color signals coming out of the FB3 and you read xxx voltage. I'll be as gentle as I can here . Sorry but... you can't measure color signals with a meter. Color signals are pulsed waveforms, and a meter will, at best, give you the average voltage. You need a scope to measure the voltages coming out of color lines, not a meter.

    Also, putting "just a point" into the drawing window will NOT give you a constant, unchanging 5V signal -- well, not from our software anyway... Our software does certain things "behind your back", and you will just have to trust that we know what we are doing, and the things that we do are for your own good . And no, I won't comment on what we do or why, because we don't want our competitors to understand what we are doing or why
    http://www.photonlexicon.com/forums/...t=meter&page=2
    Last edited by norty303; 09-08-2009 at 15:32. Reason: added quote

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Aug 2008
    Location
    UK
    Posts
    5,704

    Default

    I believe Bill also said you can increase the brightness by putting 400 points on the same place so if you want a full power pencil beam, thats one way to do it.

    I believe the lack of full power on single concentrated beams is something to do with safety.

    As for Livequick, I'm unsure what documentation comes as standard but its not the hardest programme to figure out as its pretty simple (I have the evaluation copy which has everything but all of the cues). You can often learn a lot simply by playing.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Jul 2009
    Location
    San Francisco
    Posts
    75

    Default

    Mr Benner's quote:
    Our software does certain things "behind your back", and you will just have to trust that we know what we are doing, and the things that we do are for your own good .
    I think this sums it all. I have to live with the fact that I can't exploit the full potential of my laser using the most professional software in the world.

    I believe Bill also said you can increase the brightness by putting 400 points on the same place so if you want a full power pencil beam, thats one way to do it.
    I believe the lack of full power on single concentrated beams is something to do with safety.
    I understand the safety concern over a static beam but what about my beam show or my graphics? Aren't they supposed to be full power? Should all frame have 400 retraces so that they appear brighter? Unpractical.

    The modulation seems to be constantly blanked whatever you do, that leaves some headroom to achieve a constant brightness output from frame to frame I suppose. I believe that I should be able to decide with the flip of a switch what security measure should apply to my display.
    Perceived brightness is hard to gauge unless you have a reference point and for me it's easy to quickly switch from FB3 to Mamba and see the difference for the same given frame.

    Fred.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Dec 2007
    Location
    The West
    Posts
    1,285

    Default

    This is what i was talking about previously... lets say your doing a large ,outdoor show, and you want FULL power on your graphics and static beams...
    why does this have to be so difficult / tedious to achieve?
    after all,, if were paying for top dollar hardware and lasers, who wouldn't want max brightness?

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •