Phosphor laser luminaires offer features that complement LED engine fixtures for a cost-effective technology transition. The professional lighting brand Ayrton has opted in its latest launch, the Cobra moving head, for the innovation of the laser phosphor as a light source.
The leading manufacturers in the sector are marketing laser devices based on different technologies such as pure laser, laser phosphor or hybrid laser phosphor. Ayrton's new spotlight with its phosphor laser core, has the power to illuminate objects several kilometers away and IP65 weather protection outdoors.
There are many advantages of incorporating luminaires with these characteristics together with the latest generation LED devices, but to know which equipment is the ideal one for the performance and desired result, it is key to understand the differences between laser sources and what their benefits are.
What is phosphor laser
Laser phosphor lighting, like the one used by the French brand, uses a blue laser diode as its source instead of a high-intensity discharge (HID) lamp. With no lamp, the laser phosphor needs no replacement parts or filters, which reduces downtime and maintenance costs in line with Ayrton's sustainable commitment.
To generate the three primary colors, the laser projector emits blue light that, combined with a yellow phosphor wheel, creates an interface of uniform white light that enters the engine -as the lamp did before- and once it analyzes the spectral properties of this white light, the tones are generated Red and green.
Typically, the sweet spot for laser phosphor-based equipment is around 15.000 – 25.000 lumens, with an estimated lifetime of 30.000 hours at 50% laser intensity.
lighting systems of laser phosphor do not require the maintenance of tungsten lamps and with respect to spare parts they are even simpler having no lamp or filters like LED luminaires.
However, this reduction in maintenance is limited to the light engine, since the rest of the device needs regular maintenance like cleaning fans and lenses to optimize performance.
The phosphor laser ensures a highly visible and defined beam of light even in designs with many LED screens and complementary lighting, such as the one present in shows on a large scale and on big tours with very complex and ambitious lighting designs. That's why, Ayrton's Cobra is being used successfully on recent tours by Ed Sheeran, The Killers and The Rolling Stones.
Main benefits of Ayrton's Cobra laser phosphor
El Ayrton Cobra is a Factory laser phosphor source designed to generate a D65 white point and produce smear-free colors and with a light output of 386.000 lux at 20 meters thanks to its Dreamspot 18 K technology for large-scale shows.
This moving head with power of 6500K and low consumption of 260W, is a guarantee of high performance due to its ultra-defined beam and its native contrast with a CRI greater than 65 and a beam angle of 0,6°.
Furthermore, the zoom ratio is 38x with a range of 0,6° to 23 and thanks to XT-Focus™ technology the beam shape can be adjusted to any focus, According to the need.
Among the Cobra's color and graphic capabilities are a CMY system ensures homogeneous mixtures and 92 fixed and rotating metallic gobos distributed in two wheels created specifically to sculpt the light in “beam” mode and incorporates an animation section in the 2D-GoboWheel™ gobo wheel.
These gobos can be combined with two sections of four individually rotating prisms, allowing you to produce a multitude of volumetric lighting effects.
The Cobra becomes the perfect hybrid spotlight as it can be used both outdoors and indoors.. It has a system of sun protection SunProtect-65™ and an integrated heating system that protects against temperatures below -10° C (14° F) ColdProtect-65™.