Media Q&A: Laser Technology
1. What is Laser?
Lasers are light-producing systems made up of Laser Diodes, producing light output levels of up to over 50,000 lumen. The three most important technologies are laser phosphor, RB and RGB laser.
The DLP system, which is centred around a semiconductor with up to 8.85 million small, movable mirrors and combined with a light source, can project a bright image without loss of brightness.
Laser projectors deliver typically more than 20,000 hours lifetime without a lamp replacement required. In addition, because laser light is characterised by a special property - it is extremely pure in colour - it also supports a very wide colour gamut.
2. What are the benefits of laser?
Laser projectors achieve two crucial business benefits: cost effectiveness and reliability.
Laser projectors have very low maintenance costs, because there is no lamp that needs to be replaced. Organisations would historically have kept a supply of replacement projector lamps, so therefore the investment made by the business or organisation is immediately depreciating. The other cost to the business is staff time and resource to replace lamps, especially for organisations with projectors located in difficult to reach areas. Installing scaffolding or other structures to reach these components for maintenance requires human resources and the money could be better invested elsewhere. Additionally, there is, in most cases, no need for laser projectors to be installed by a certified professional.
Laser technology consistently offers the highest image quality with 24/7 operation. Light generated with laser systems inherently has a longer and more stable brightness level that decreases at a much slower rate than conventional lamp-based systems, so its operating life span far exceeds traditional lighting methods.
In addition, laser projectors also offer a relatively compact design whilst also offering this high brightness.
To summarise, the benefits of laser projectors are:
- Lower maintenance costs
- Appealing visual experience through consistent light output, brightness uniformity and constant colour rendition
- Reliable, maintenance-free operation in 24/7 environments
- Return on investment through longer life, and lower brightness decline during lifetime, lower energy consumption and lower thermal emission
- High quality experience due to higher contrast and wider colour gamut
- Better for the environment: mercury free, instant on/off capability, flexible brightness adjustment (20-100%)
3. What brightness level can laser achieve?
Most people perceive laser light as brighter than that of a traditional lamp.
Sharp/NEC currently provides a brightness output of 5,200 to 20,000 ANSI lumens with one chip DLP technology and up to 35,000 ANSI lumens for three chip DLP and LCD models. The possible brightness level will be expanded even further in the coming years.
In the cinema projector area, generating 60,000 to 70,000 lumens with a slightly different technology based on pure RGB laser is now possible.
4. What is the future of technology and market opportunity for laser?
The brightness and energy saving benefits offered by laser means that it has predominantly replaced lamp-based projection.
Industries or applications that started the change to Laser are those equipping large venues where high brightness output is of particular benefit. The physical nature of most large venues (where projectors are typically located high up at ceiling height) means that they greatly appreciate the low maintenance requirements, thus limiting demand on resources. Higher education and corporate environments are typical users, but also in DOOH scenarios, where advertisers value the always-on, always-bright benefits.
As a particularly cost-conscious industry, most cinemas have replaced lamp-based projectors with laser technology. The long-term high brightness offers particular benefit to cinema-goers, whilst the lower maintenance costs mean that operational costs of the cinema are reduced. This is one industry where laser has been established very quickly.
More industries and applications are recognising the benefits of laser projection including for indoor signage, control room, industrial, care design and 3D model simulation. Laser’s high reliability and high brightness means it is also well suited for mission-critical scenarios. As these industries look to upgrade or replace projector technology, they turn to laser for their next investment.
The wider production of laser projection means the cost per lumen will reduce significantly, so even more industries will start to see the total cost of ownership benefit.
The higher brightness delivered by laser projection means laser projectors are used across larger and larger venues, such as in rental and staging.
5. What are the safety regulations relating to laser technology?
Whilst there remain some health and safety recommendations in the use of laser projectors due to the very bright light, there are no longer any regulations in place regarding laser technology. Previously, laser installations required a specially trained laser officer but regulatory change from the IEC (International Electrotechnical Commission) has made this obsolete. There has also been a change in the general classification of laser projectors which is further helping to reduce costs and widen applications for laser projection.
6. What scenarios are better for laser than lamp?
Laser technology generates incredible colour quality in terms of gamut as well as contrast and uniformity. The low brightness loss of laser means that laser projectors are suitable for environments with a high ambient light which would be less suited to lamp-based projection. As a mercury-free technology and consuming less power, laser projection is also the more eco-friendly solution. And finally, the lower energy consumption and reduced maintenance costs make it very attractive from a ROI point of view.
7. What is Sharp/NEC’s involvement with Laser?
Being an early adopter of this lighting method is already paying off for Sharp/NEC. The specialist for many types of imaging technology, the company is already working on its fifth and sixth generation projector models and sees a bright future for laser technology. The engineers at Sharp/NEC see much potential across a great many industries and applications.
In order to deliver the best possible performance within a wide variety of applications and to fulfil all customer needs, Sharp/NEC makes use of all three major laser technologies in its projectors: Laser Phosphor, RB Laser and RGB Laser.
With its unrivalled line-up of laser projectors, Sharp/NEC offers solutions for multiple applications across many vertical markets. From Digital Cinema where laser illumination creates an extraordinarily bright picture – especially appreciated in 3D movies – to meeting rooms where super silent operation is appreciated alongside outstanding, detail-rich image quality. Especially for the large venue sector, Sharp/NEC offers a vast range of laser projectors, covering almost any brightness level and screen size up to 35.000Lm .
Sharp/NEC laser projectors also support Sharp/NEC’s Green Vision for sustainability, by eliminating mercury lamps, reducing energy consumption and extending the lifecycle.
8. Is it suitable for mission-critical applications?
Where a lamp-based projector would need to be out of commission for periods of time whilst lamps are replaced, or worse still, if a lamp explodes, laser projectors, in contrast, are not subject to downtime. Whilst redundancy is always advisable, the long lifecycle, high reliability and zero maintenance requirement of laser technology make it well suited to control room or mission-critical scenarios.
9. What is unique about the laser offering of Sharp/NEC compared to other vendors?
Sharp/NEC has a long legacy in projection technology, unrivalled by many other vendors. The quality Sharp/NEC delivers satisfies the highest demands of the cinema industry and critical commercial applications. Sharp/NEC solutions are used in 24/7 environments where quality and reliability are of the utmost importance. That’s why customers in areas such as Aviation and Transportation, Healthcare, Rental & Staging, Higher Education, Cinema, Retail & Signage, Leisure & Museums as well as Corporate Offices and Board Rooms trust Sharp/NEC.
Sharp/NEC offers one of the widest line-ups in terms of brightness, ranging from 5,200 ANSI lumens for smaller installations to 35,000 ANSI lumens in large venues. Depending on the use case, Sharp/NEC is able to use the three different laser technologies in the best way possible for the customer. With such as wide portfolio, Sharp/NEC remains unbiased toward any particular technology, able to recommend the perfect fit solution according to its customers’ unique requirements.
The know-how built-up over years of development and constant improvement is embodied in each of Sharp/NEC’s products. This shows in the specially developed phosphor wheels with long-lasting phosphor, and in optimized DMD technology. It also comes into play in the finer details such as IP5X rated dust protection thanks to the sealed light engine.
Furthermore, Sharp/NEC supports its customers on all laser-related questions and helps them to become experts with dedicated training and support.