Laser Spectacles, Inc.

It is small, but mighty

View from above

This unit was another early arrival from Laserworld, and it was my second experience of a Class IV professional quality RGB laser projector,  the PL-2100RGB,  with 640 nm red (more visible and tighter beam than 650 nm) and 445 nm blue (almost violet).  The RGB beam came from just one source – a small brick covered with circuit boards and wires that could be easily held in the palm of your hand!  I checked the power – just over 2.1 Watts, as advertised.  Each beam seemed roughly the same power, and brightness.  I was surprised at how much the 445 blue interacted with the other colors, the range of colors was phenomenal!

Limited Access

Laser Module View

I had a few problems to clear up!  The beam seemed a bit dirty at first;  I discovered that the scanner output windeow needed cleaning.  At this point I discovered that to really clean or adjust the optics in the Revolution series projector (of which this is one) requires some disassembly of the projector in order to reach everything comfortably.  but I was able to pull it off, and that solved the problem, almost.

The rest of the “almost” took the best part of a few months to figure out.  By this time, I really liked this little projector – for its small size and power requirements, it matched my Spectra Physics 168 Whitelight laser modulated by a PCAOM in brightness and presence, and outdid it in saturation of colors!  So I was determined to make it work.

Rear Panel of PL2100-RGB

LW-50K scanners in PL2100-RGB

I noticed that the beam quality degraded a lot when I tried to use the laser outside in hot humid Texas weather.  Opening it up. I could tell that the RGB module was cold, and water was condensing on it in copious amounts.  If this was happening inside the module it would explain the problem.

I contacted the laser module manufacturer, SwissLase, and they instructed me in opening and cleaning the module, and re-aligning it.  There many signs of condensation inside the module.  I purchased some “thermometer tape”, stuck it on the module, and soon learned that it was set to operate at 62° F, way too cold for my Texas conditions!  I received instructions about how to adjust the piezo-electric cooler mounted inside the module, and adjusted it to 78° F.  Since then it has run perfectly with no condensation.

PL-2100RGB on left, Spectra 168 on right

notice the similarity in beam quality and brightness

The projector came with LW-50K scanners, which I soon upgraded to CT-6210, for faster scanning speed.  The LW-50K scanners do a good basic job, but for scanning really complex graphics you want a faster scanner.

I learned how to take out the laser module, and using the multitude of adjusting screws, adjust the many beams into a focus at 40 feet in our shop.  The laser module is what is known as “diode coupled”;  many small beams are combined through “knife-edge” combining in which the beams are placed parallel to one another and merge into one “white” beam as the multiple beams diverge.  In the PL-2100RGB there are 3 red beams, 4 green beams, and one blue beam.  The blue beam is more of a diagonal slash, but it is such a low frequency that the eyes merge it into the others quite nicely.

Blue from the PL-2100RGB balances with the two 3W YAGs

Hitting diffraction gratings with laser beams - PL-2100RGB in center

I recommend this projector for a permanent installation anywhere, or for an experienced mobile user who enjoys doing the work necessary to keep his projectors cleaned and aligned.  I have found with normal show use the projector will need realigning every 6 months or so.  It’s been standard procedure for years to disassemble your laser gear to clean and align it, but there are manufacturers who claim that that is a thing of the past… we’ll see.

Colors of the PL-2100RGB

PL-2100RGB red beats with the Heart

Outstanding colors,and a nice, tight beam make the Laserworld PL-2100RGB a laser projector to be reckoned with, especially at the great price.