software and hardware for lasershows

Starting with the laser, unless you can afford an expensive full colour powerfull laser the choice of laser needs to match your application and in best matching you will save money while still being able to produce the desired effects.

For a guide we recommend for all applications laser with at least 1 watt of power, this gives desirable results in most indoor venues and some outdoor too. The best laser for any show application is one with a fine beam with a divergence less than 0.7mrad, this is the figure given to the size the beam grows per meter. You can buy lasers with .5mrad divergence and lower but these do tend to be expensive for laser show applications. 532nm green is the most visible colour to the human eye, red and blue of the same power are not as visible.

The software used is also a factor to be taken into account and again the apllication you intend a laser for can have a big difference on cost. for simple beam effects most USB or printer port controllers will do. If you need high quality animated graphics and advanced features then we recommend Pangolins LD2000.

Scanners that move the laser again can have a big inpact on the effects produced, in the 80s and late 90s General Scanning were the leaders in scanner technology for the laser show industry but more recently Cambridge Technology have jumped ahead with a range of lower cost and higher performance scanners that best meet the requirements of todays lasershows you can read more about scanners and laser beam possitioning here.