| Continuing in LSDI’s tradition of accurate and honest evaluations of laser technology, we are providing a side-by-side comparison of our MicroColor Laser I or MCL-I and a Coherent Purelight Star IIC.
For our comparison we used our excalibur projector with the Coherent Purelight Star IIC and set our balanced scanning output to match that of the MCL-I at 750mW.
With both laser systems outputting the same power we can compare lasers to lasers for image quality, overall brightness, and beam quality.
By The Numbers
MCL-I (measured at output window)
- 750 mW Balanced
- 300 mW Red
- 170 mW Green (reduced)
- 300 mW Blue
- Beam divergence = 1 mrad
- Beam diameter at 35 feet = 1.9 cm
- Irradiance at 35 feet = 0.265 w/cm2
Purelight (measured at output window)
- 750 mW Balanced
- 265 mW Red
- 130 mW Green
- 100 mW Blue
- Beam divergence = 2 mrad
- Beam diameter at 35 feet = 2.54 cm
- Irradiance at 35 feet = 0.148 w/cm2
To The Eye
Due to the MCL-I’s smaller beam divergence the graphics appear crisper. The colors of the graphics and atmospheric beams seem more saturated, particularly with the blue where a single line at 473 nm replaces the three lines, 488, 476, and 457 nm from the Purelight.
Most graphics and atmospheric beams projected from the MCL-I appear brighter.
The internal modulation of the MCL-I is fast enough to be virtually indistinguishable from the PCAOM modulation of the Excalibur with the exception of raster images.
The Bottom Line
At equivalent power the MCL-I appears brighter than a Purelight Star IIC. The Purelight’s power must be turned up to approximately 1.5 watts before it becomes noticeably brighter.
The smaller beam divergence of the MCL-I provides a higher quality image at longer distances.
Without expensive electrical requirements, water cooling, and heavy equipment the MCL-I provides a great product at a great price for applications where high power systems are not necessary such as trade show booths, small to medium ballrooms, exhibit halls, and more!.
The only current limitations of note are some raster images and insufficient power for the big events. However, as time goes on and the technology continues to improve we will solve these issues and replace those gas lasers with more efficient, portable, and higher power DPSS laser systems!
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