Barco

As you have been reading in our series of articles, laser-based projection causes both an evolution and a revolution in the world of cinema. Throughout history, a lot of practicalities have made (r)evolutions happen. In this article we will focus on the practicalities of installing and operating a laser-illuminated projector in a digital cinema context. We will give you a glimpse into the little and big adventures our installers and end users experience; as well as provide some answers to frequently asked questions. One of them being a question we asked ourselves: “Who are those two Germans and what are they trying to do with that projector?”

RGB laser projectors

When talking about the practicalities of installing and operating laser-based projectors in cinemas, it is important to make a distinction between laser phosphor and RGB laser projectors. The latter, such as Barco’s DP4K-L series, have been introduced to create a true revolution in cinema. They not only enable light outputs that double the brightness levels of lamps, they also dramatically improve contrast, uniformity, and stability – creating a whole new class of image quality. Barco’s flagship laser projectors are the result of a long-term platform development that created the ultimate projector – built from the ground up. Their performance, properties, and handling deserve some special attention. 

Laser phosphor illuminated projectors

On the other hand, laser phosphor illuminated projectors were introduced more recently - we launched our DP2K-15CLP and DP2K-20CLP offering brightness levels up to 18,000 lumens at CineAsia 2015. They represent a more natural evolution in cinema – just like the move from incandescent lamps to LED lighting in the home – and laser phosphor will soon make an end to costly and cumbersome lamp swaps in cinema. They are not only available as new-built projection setups, but also as fast and easy field retrofits. Let there be no misunderstanding: laser phosphor does enable better image quality (through contrast, uniformity…) but its installation and operation is designed to be similar to a ‘standard’ lamp-based projector. With one small detail: you never have to swap a lamp again. 

In the rest of this article we’ll focus on the practicalities of RGB laser projectors; since the differences are most noticeable there. 

The size of it

A first parameter that sets RGB flagship laser projectors apart is their size (and weight). Since they have been designed for ultimate image quality and brightness; every aspect of the setup has been dimensioned to combine this performance with stability and reliability. On the one hand there is the projection head: you need a certain space (a.k.a. ‘étendue’) to support 4K chip size of the internal optics. 

Direct coupling

The fact that Barco’s DP4K-L projectors are the only ones to have an integrated light source is also important. The direct coupling of integrated light sources offers a much higher efficiency than so-called fiber coupling, but it also contribute to the total projection head size. 

Active cooling

The critical and accurate cooling is enabled by ‘chillers’: these active cooling elements keep the laser temperatures under control. This is how we manage to reach performance levels of less than 20% light drop over 30,000 hours. Of course these chillers also add to the total system. Barco’s DP4K-60L, the world’s brightest projector with 56,000 lumens light output, has a projection head size of 744 x 1,445 x 706 mm (29.3 x 56.9 x 27.8 inches). The two chillers, each measure 701 x 701 x 800 mm (27.6 x 27.6 x 31.5 inches). The total system weighs just above 500kg.

Installation checklist

There are some very practical items you need to ask yourself when installing a high brightness laser projector: