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ILDA
Trade Show: Lights, Fog,
Lasers and More
By
David Lytle
It was a dark and
foggy room, filled with bright shafts of laser light
dancing overhead, a bubbling tank of water and the
sounds of pop music and arcade games. The ILDA Trade
Show in Orlando gave visitors more than just a chance
to inspect an endless array of products, it
was also time to see great laser shows and play
with high-tech toys.
My personal favorites
on the floor: Melles Griot’s bubbling aquarium featuring
a fully submerged and fully operating YAG laser;
Omicron Laserage’s new DPSS laser with the most
stylish package design I’ve ever seen for a laser;
and an Asteroids arcade game projected in laser
light by the new Colorburst laser.
But enough with play—here’s
the business rundown of all the exhibitors at the
November trade show. Contact the companies directly
for more information.
Cambridge Technology:
The display industry’s most popular scanner
manufacturer exhibited its line of high-speed scanners
and driver cards. (+1) 617-441-0600; www.camtech.com
HB-Laserkomponenten:
This German firm displayed its new LightCube laser,
a high-performance DPSS laser that can produce up
to ten watts of green light. The LightCube features
both TTL and analog modulation and comes with the
laser and power supply integrated into a single
compact housing. Also on display was HB’s Apollo
SuperMicro scan amplifier, claimed to be the world’s
smallest dual scanner amplifier.(+49) 7171-61107;
www.hb-laser.com
Laser Entertainment/Laser
System Europe:
The star of this booth was the new Medium laser,
a 2-watt green DPSS unit designed and priced with
laser display companies in mind. The laser features
a low-divergence, 2mm beam and can be upgraded to
5 Watts. The Medium laser is a joint product of
Laser Entertainment of Milan and Laser System Europe,
based in Brussels, Belgium.
(+39) 2-27007064; www.laserent.com
(+32)
2/331-11-02; www.lasyseurope.com
Laser Fantasy
International: LFI showcased its FantaCD line
of award-winning laser artwork, and an Infinity
2000 YAG laser available for rental. Called the
SpaceCase, LFI’s self-contained 40-watt rental YAG
touring system comes in its own road case and is
equipped with a sidescan projector, heat exchangers
and control electronics. (+1) 425-644-2777; www.laserfantasy.com
Laserlight Showdesign:
The latest version of Laserlight ShowControl was
available for test-driving at this booth. The software
gives Pangolin users an easy-to-use method for assembling
and replaying shows.(+49) 30 49 76 0-76; www.laserlight.de
Laserpromotions
b.v.: This Dutch company was displaying its
line of optical modules: self-contained units that
can be plugged together to create a sophisticated
laser projection system with virtually no alignment
worries. (+31) 71-531-5561; www.laserpro.nl
Lighting Systems
Design Inc.: Onlookers gathered around the LSDI
booth to examine a functioning RGB solid-state laser.
The prototype projector used red, blue and green
Melles Griot lasers to produce full-color laser
output. (+1) 407-299-9504; www.lsdi.com
Logic Systems
Inc.: The company’s new DMX decoder and driver
cards were on display, including new multi-channel
high current analog driver cards, and a low-cost
8-channel relay output card.
(+1) 916-387-5661;
www.lsione.com
MDG Fog Generators:
There was no shortage of fog in the trade show area,
thanks to the MDG booth. The Canadian company was
showing it’s newest product, the Ice Fog Compact,
an ultra-quiet fogger with adjustable output and
the ability to generate huge amounts of white fog.
(+1) 514-272-6040; www.mdgfog.com
Melles Griot Laser
Group: This booth had perhaps the most eye-catching
display at the trade show: a fully operating Melles
Griot DPSS laser head submerged in a bubbling ten-gallon
aquarium tank. The bright green beam kept shining
throughout the show, backing up the company’s claim
that their new laser is hermetically sealed and
impervious to dust or water. (+1) 760-438-2131;
www.mellesgriot.com
NEOS Technologies:
NEOS displayed PCAOM products that modulate the
color and intensity of laser displays.
(+1)
321-676-9020; www.neostech.com
NewAje Laser:
Toys for laserists was the theme for NewAje Laser.
Everything from flashing LED lights to vapor-producing
guns was on display. A second NewAje booth featured
the Colorburst laser by Lumalaser. Visitors could
watch eye-popping laser shows and play the Asteroids
arcade game projected in real-time by the new laser. The Colorburst
is an air-cooled RGB projector that runs off 120vac
.(+1)818-889-7435;
www.newaje.com;
(+1) 805-583-0244; www.lumalaser.com
Omicron Laserage
Laserprodukte: Omicron’s newest laser was on
display, a compact DPSS that produces up to 5 Watts.
The FK-LA 3000/5000 laser comes in a stylish package
complete with an easy grip handle for portability.
It is digitally modulated up to 25kHz. Omicron says
it “eats any power you can feed it,” including operating
from a car battery. (+49) 6106-8224-0: www.laserage.de
OmniSistem Lights
and Effects: Omnisistem’s booth was shooting
out shafts of bright green light throughout the
trade show area. On display was the Laser Quantum
line of solid-state lasers, OmniSistem’s own line
of laser diodes, plus associated projector hardware. (+1)
253-395-9500; www.pulselasers.com
Pangolin Laser
Systems: Pangolin was showing its latest additions
to Lasershow Designer 2000. Visitors could watch
laser shows, see demos and test new software features.
Audio Visual Imagineering also set up two of its
LaserGlobe projectors at the Pangolin booth. They
are 10-inch diameter orbs with internal laser projectors.
(+1) 407-299-2088; www.pangolin.com
Space Coast Lasers:
A variety of new and refurbished lasers and hardware
components were available for sale.
(+1) 888-831-1353;
www.spacecoastlaser.com
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