Is 150mw bright enough for laser show?

[lightman10]

i am looking to buy this projector:

150mw green cartoon animated dj laser show DMX / ILDA - eBay (item 300390411226 end time Oct-21-10 22:30:41 PDT)

I was wondering if that is going to be bright enough to do beam shows with. I currently own a 80 mw green pointer and that has a nice beam when holding still but when its shining through mirrors it tends to fade away. will that happen with 150mw as well? Will it be a night and day difference between a 80mw laser vs 150mw?

 

[andy_con]

what do you plan to use this projector for?

home use it will be fine, actual going out and doing shows, no chance...

 

[lightman10]

i want to use this projector to shine beam shows out my window on to my front lawn for Christmas and also draw out graphics as well.

 

[andy_con]

umm you might want a bit more power then although bare safety in mind

 

[lightman10]

What would you suggest a good output be for this use? And i can always put in a brighter laser in down the road

 

[ElektroFreak]

I'd start off around 250-300mW close range. If you need to project from more than several meters away from the screen you'll need 1/2W or more.

 

[lightman10]

do you know of any pre-built projectors that are fairly cheap that have close to 300 mw in it? or am i just better off upgrading the laser? if thats even possible...?

 

[Grix]

I used a 200mW projector in a dark 20*20m hall. Worked very well. Beams more than bright enough and everyone loved it. I don't think 150mW will be much dimmer. I suspect andy_con and the other pros are too used to laser luxury :shhh:

EDIT: I'll actually be selling the laser soon. If you can wait a couple of months or so you can get a good deal.

 

[carmangary]

My projector only has 50mw, and for inside my house it is plenty bright. One Halloween I used it to project onto the side of my house. Once the sun went down it was bright enough. In fact, I have used it to project onto trees that were probably 100 yds away at night and the image was clearly seen.

But, if you want to see the beams outside with no fog you are going to need much more power. So, if you just want to draw pictures, 150mw is good enough. If you want an outdoor beam show, forget it.

 

[ElektroFreak]

Don't get me wrong.. 150mW looks fine in a small room with plenty of fog when you don't have any ambient lighting or other lasers to deal with, but truthfully, when projecting graphics outdoors I've had the best luck with 250mW minimum.

So lower powers will work ok, but more is better. I think that's what Andy is trying to say as well..

 

[Grix]

Who said anything about graphics or outdoor shows?

 

[ElektroFreak]

read post #3

 

[Grix]

Ah I see. Sorry.

 

[ElektroFreak]

No apology necessary.. hell, I miss posts all the time while skimming threads. It's not always possible to take the time to read every last word of every post.

 

[lightman10]

so if i had a projector that was about 200mw would you easily be able to identify the beam vs 150mw?

 

[Benm]

It depends very much on ambient light conditions. In a dark area, an animation powered by 150 mW of green can be very visible. In sunlight the same projection would be more or less invisible.

150 vs 200 mW is not a striking difference at all. In most cases you either need a shitload of power, or very little will suffice. Projecting something on your lawn or facade at night is perectly feasible with 150 mW of green, and would really stand out in dark areas.