there are Whitelight lasers with continous spectrum using special fibres
Saphire laser with a lot pulse width compression
the pulses are way shorter than a single wavelenght so its also white (but such pulses are extremely hazardous for any eye)
What is the intensity of the 4000k and CRI 90 version? Also what is the color temperature of the CRI 90 version? I’m really looking forward to this. The previous laser lights on the market were measured at less than 200 lumens so this one might actually make it the first practical LEP flashlight and might be my first LEP flashlight.
Also, any chance the zoomie will use the Oslon HX Boost? It will be the most powerful zoomie in the world.
A white LED is composed of a blue LED with a layer of phosphor on top. When the blue light hits this phosphor, red and green are emitter, and some of the original blue passes through. These 3 colors then mix to create white light.
A LEP works the same way, except a LEP uses a blue laser diode instead of a blue LED as the light source. The laser, mounted behind the phosphor layer, hits the phosphor, which emits red and green. That mixes with the blue to create white light.
A LEP creates a very small and very intense point of white light on the phosphor layer. This light source is more intense (concentrated) than currently available LEDs. LEP flashlights then collect this light and project it out the front using an aspheric lens in exactly the same way an aspheric lens flashlight works. Because the intensity of a LEP is higher than an LED, you can get more throw out of a LEP flashlight than out of a similar sized LED flashlight.
LEP lights also feature a tiny reflector mounted in the center of the aspheric lens. Any of the original coherent laser beam that isn’t absorbed or diffracted by the phosphor hits this small reflector and is diverted 90 degrees sideways where it is harmlessly absorbed by the side of the bezel.
Result is all of the actual output of the light should be as eye-safe as any LED flashlight. In theory at least.
Until you drop the light and something misaligns….or until factory quality check fails to spot a bad build.
I am convinced that LEP is the future. LEDs will have no use in throwers. But I’m not convinced that the current generation of LEP flashlights is safe.
And manufacturers don’t really do anything to convince me otherwise. Nobody explained what they do to prevent eye damage. They stay silent on the issue.
I also wonder if there might be legal issues with modern LEP flashlights.
I suspect a light like the W30 probably has a Class IV laser inside it. And while the output isn’t coherent, technically it is still laser light. Could you get in legal trouble for carrying around a LEP light and using it? Maybe. I’m not sure.
There aren’t any laws concerning how bright can a flashlight be (intensity of the beam in this case), like with lasers. Simply because when such laws were proposed nobody had imagined 100,000lm or 1Mcd handheld flashlights. At close range I’d expect the W30 to be as dangerous as a low-medium powered laser if pointed directly to the eyes.