Can you dim lasers?

Yeah that's true. :)

Fred_dibna wrote: Bams wrote: With lasers: in doubt do not use.. a pub will be rather low so you will be beaming into peoples eyes at a short distance. I looked at the movie of the effect and this is a fun machine but with half a watt can be dangerous if used in close proximity. It's more than that it's 900mw not 500mw, i'll be buying the laser regardless because I might be able to use it somewhere else and i'll test it out when I get it but if it is indeed too powerful it won't be used in the pub. Here is the video to show you how powerful it is, and this is in a medium sized warehouse/lighting demo room.

Dimming of LED lamps including LED lasers is not like traditional dimming. The light source is switched on and of at a very fast rate. The difference between the on and off time gives a perceived change in brightness. So a source of a 500mw will still kick it’s full power but only in very short bursts. If you’re thinking of using a laser of the power your talking please do some research into laser MPE maximum permissible exposure . Even a very brief burst from a laser is enough to do damage so even when they are dimmed they can cause damage. Putting beam divergence lenses can diffuse the beam but you will still need to do the calculations. I’d also look into local authority licensing regarding lasers. I know that ANY crowdscanning no matter how controlled is banned in Manchester.

Edited by monkeypuzzle - 19 May 2020 at 8:29am