Making of laser billboard.
Lasers can be used in so many ways when it comes to enriching or enhancing a show. The colours of laser light are purest of all, and the level of illumination that lasers can deliver is exceptional.
Modern lasers can also display some pretty complex graphical content, although in the majority of cases it's outlines of the shapes, text and objects.
Still, there are a few things which make them an excellent alternative to video projectors or LED screens when it comes to digital advertising when it's dark:
- The coherency of laser light makes most other light sources incomparable when it comes to the level of luminosity per illuminated area; let's call it brightness.
- The distance and angle from which it is possible to perform the projection with lasers are substantially greater.
- Financially, lasers are at the lower end of the scale when compared to other professional solutions.
- Due to a very high contrast ratio, the projection surface can be virtually anything of any colour. Even woods on the side of the mountain are suitable for laser projections.
- Lasers are not that common in this sector and still offer the wow-factor, which is inflicted by the unusual appearance and high brightness of projection.
- Installation requires a lot less in terms of space and weight limits. Using lasers and in particular, Logolas allows for more flexibility when it comes to finding the right position for the system, mainly due to its small footprint and weather-resistance.
Recently we were approached by Faculty of Electrical Engineering (FEI STU) Bratislava, who wanted to display some advertising on one of their fabric billboards during dark hours. They heard about lasers before and knew that they could be used for this kind of application, but had no idea how to and what are the implications.
The size of the billboard is 30x20 meters, and the projection distance is about 90 meters. So, altogether, pretty massive space and quite a range to cover.
Also, due to an only possible mounting point for the projection unit, the angle of the projection was established between 45 and 60 degrees off the screen centre.
Originally the idea was to make video projection, but the cost of equipment powerful enough for this was just way too high.
One of KVANT representatives reviewed the case and explained to the client the options, what's possible with lasers and what are the requirements, both technical and safety ones.
Once the client understood that a laser is potentially the solution to their needs, a couple of systems were taken onsite for a demo. That was 3-Watt Logolas 3000 and 6-Watt Logolas 6000, both being full-colour models with built-in FB4 laser control system.
Although Logolas 3000 was satisfactory for the application, the budged allowed the customer to go for a more powerful 6000 model also with scanner upgrade to Saturn1 90k set for fastest scanning speeds available on the market.
Part of the package we supplied to the client was a quick training of their programmer and taught him how to produce and optimise graphics and animations for use with lasers.
As a result, the guys at FEI STU Bratislava are now able to create and manage the content of their advertising themselves and change it whenever they want or need to.
The projection looks fantastic, draws attention from hundreds of meters away and informs passers-by about all the events happening at FEI STU.
This solution utilising Logolas laser display system fulfils and exceeds all the client's criteria, and at the same time expresses to the public the technological focus of the organisation.