A Few Epcot Updates

[marni1971]

Based on the pictures, the old lasers were likely argon ion, which have most of the energy in the green, less energy in the blue, and a tad of energy in the indigo. Lasers produce discrete frequencies, not a continuous spectrum...When going to "full color", they likely went to Krypton/Argon

You almost got it - 1988 saw 30 watt Argon ion lasers. ROE uses 15 watt Krypton Ion lasers.

WOC also has the advantage of the lasers pointing towards the main viewing area; like Fant! lasers coming at you are more visible than those side on due to some scientific stuff about air particles and light scatter and what-not.

 

[EpcotFanForever]

You almost got it - 1988 saw 30 watt Argon ion lasers. ROE uses 15 watt Krypton Ion lasers.

WOC also has the advantage of the lasers pointing towards the main viewing area; like Fant! lasers coming at you are more visible than those side on due to some scientific stuff about air particles and light scatter and what-not.

Yep - laser physics is pretty predictable!

And you are pretty close too - it's not air particles, but dust, smoke, and mist that scatters the laser. A laser of this type in clean air would not be seen.

When the particles are between you and the laser, that is called forward scatter, and it is very efficient (that is, bright). When you are between the laser and the particles, you are viewing in backscatter mode, which is less efficient.

So if you want to see the lasers, stand across the lagoon from them. And also be sure to throw lots of mist and smoke into the air.

BTW - the giveaway on the lasers was the red-brown color of the housing - those are made by a company called Coherent. And some of the new diode lasers check in at 80W!!

 

[harveyt0206]

LOL feel free to step in, we love a good laser debate!

I would love to contribute but the essence of my contribution would be: "Lasers. Good."

 

[MythBuster]

For those who are interested, here's a brochure on the exact model of the lasers they use for ROE.

http://www.coherent.com/downloads/SabreBrochure.pdf

 

[EpcotFanForever]

The World of Color show out at California Adventure does some great things with full spectrum lasers, and they are quite bright too (though WoC has a much smaller "stage" to illuminate). If they're bringing the same or similar technology to RoE, I think people should be very pleased with the results.

Well, I made it the California and scored a "Blue Ticket" for the 9PM showing of WOC last night. It was breathtakingly spectacular, and reminds me of how I felt when I first saw ROE 10 years ago. But the topic police will hit me for these comments....

More to the topic, the lasers were way beyond anything I've ever seen. True, full color and they painted the fountains beautifully. But by far the best laser effects were low-level, where they skimmed over the top of the water with all sorts of beautiful effects.

Also saw the REAL Fantasmic. Florida will seem so tired after being out here!!!