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Custom Light Source for DLP Board

Jan Winter
Intellectual 290 points
Other Parts Discussed in Thread: DLP5500

Hi,

for a subject experiment I would like to display certain visual signs (square, circle, landolt C) with a certain spectrum. Therefore I have a programmable light source (OL 490 from optronic laboratories  ) which has a fiberoptic output with 5mm in diameter (0.196 inches). I want to project these signs in a distance of 75cm (29.5 inches) with a size of approximately 1x1 - 5x5 cm ( 0.4 - 2 inches). Remote control with MATLAB or python is intended, I guess I will only need to supply a vga signal.

Do you think it is possible to exchange the LED light source of e.g. the DLP LightCrafter in order to replace it with the output of the fiberoptic, or which DLP chip or development board would you suggest?

I don't need very high sharpness, I just need a way to project a certain sign in increasing output intensities. I also don't need very high resolution, 100x100 mirrors should be fairly enough.

Thanks and best regards

Jan Winter

TU Berlin, Chair of Lighting Technology

  • 0
    Intellectual 310 points

    Hi Jan,

    Thank you for your participation on the E2E Community Site.  In regards to your question, you are able to use a fiber-optic light source with the Discovery D4100 Kits through an S2+ Optics Module (W/out LED) along with a lightpipe adapter.  The lightpipe adapter allows you to connect an external fiber-optic based light source to your development board.  You can purchase the D4100 Kit or the Chipset, not the DMD alone, fyi.  The Chipset includes the DDC4100 control bus, DAD2000 Reset Drivers, DMD, and the D4100 flash module.  I would recommend purchasing the complete kit + S2 Optics Module w/out LED +Lightpipe adapter as the best and most efficient solution.  If you need DVI capability in order to stream video or for creating patterns and images in real time, you can get the DLi D2D Expansion Board.   This is a daughter-board that simply connects to the D4100 Controller board via the onboard EXP connections and is plug and play.  It also gives you 8-bit grayscale capability.  As far as using VGA, I believe a DVI-VGA adapter would work, but I will need to verify that and get back with you.

    Please let me know if you haven any more questions.

    Justin Lemon

    Digital Light Innovations

    512-615-4630

    jlemon@dlinnovations.com

  • 0 in reply to Justin Lemon
    Intellectual 290 points

    Hi Justin,

    thanks for your detailed response.

    This sounds like the best out of the box solution. Unfortunately the budget of the project I'm working on is fixed and 7999$ just for the D4100 is quite above our limit.

    For my subject test I'm planning to show certain signs (square, circle, landolt C) with increasing intensities. I'm planning to increase the intensities from 0 - 100% within 1-2 seconds.

    VGA is no real reqauirement, DVI or fixed programmed values into the firmware would be fine, too.

    I'm just wondering if it might be possible to hack the DLP Pico projector and replace the LED light source with the fiber optic of the OL 490. Maybe I'll just go for a try.

    However  I'd be interested in having a quote for the complete kit + S2 Optics Module w/out LED +Lightpipe adapter, as suggested by you.

    Could you please send me a quote to j.winter@tu-berlin.de?

    Thanks and best regards

    Jan Winter

    TU Berlin, Chair of Lighting Technology

  • 0 in reply to Jan Winter
    TI__Guru 54320 points

    Hello Jan,

    It is certainly possible to remove the light engine from the LightCrafter engine, but doing so will void any warranty on the kit.  After that you would still have some work to do to properly align and match the illumination to the surface of the DMD.  The optical configuration will depend on the area of the output of the fiber, the cone angle of the light exiting the fiber.  

    The only other consideration is the output power from the fiber.  It is up to you to make certain that it does not exceed the thermal capability of the DMD.

    Fizix

  • 0 in reply to Fizix
    Prodigy 60 points

    This is very useful. Except 4100, is there any cheaper kit (low resolution, frame rate, etc.) that can use customized light source (laser) and program simple pattern? I saw some chipset, like dlp1700, but couldnot find suitable development kit. Thank you.

  • 0 in reply to yl zhang
    TI__Genius 9935 points

    Zhang,

    There is a development kit for the DLP1700. It is the Pico Kit v2. See http://digikey.com/pico

    There are a lot of questions and answers about the Pico Kit v2 on this forum.

    Best regards,

    Pascal

  • 0 in reply to Pascal DLP
    Intellectual 290 points

    Hi guys,

    thanks for your input.

    Regarding your input and these posts

    http://e2e.ti.com/support/dlp__mems_micro-electro-mechanical_systems/f/94/p/121012/431039.aspx#431039

    http://e2e.ti.com/support/dlp__mems_micro-electro-mechanical_systems/f/94/t/92354.aspx

    http://e2e.ti.com/support/dlp__mems_micro-electro-mechanical_systems/f/94/t/183438.aspx

    http://e2e.ti.com/support/dlp__mems_micro-electro-mechanical_systems/f/850/t/161577.aspx

    I came to the conclusion that using a custom external light source might be possible with a "Discovery D4100 kit + S2 Optics Module w/out LED +Lightpipe adapter" out of the box, however this is the most expensive solution.

    It seems to be best to customize the light source on a LightCrafter kit, rather than on the Pico Dev kit, where this post shows how to do it properly:

    http://e2e.ti.com/support/dlp__mems_micro-electro-mechanical_systems/f/850/p/159950/587034.aspx#587034

    Best regards

    Jan

  • 0 in reply to Jan Winter
    TI__Guru 54320 points

    Hello Jan,

    It sounds like you have have a path to get where you want.

    You may find the following link useful to start with. -->  http://focus.ti.com/paramsearch/docs/parametricsearch.tsp?family=analog&familyId=2057&uiTemplateId=MDLP_PARMSRCH_T&paramCriteria=no

    From that page you can look at the controller & DMD datasheets and also look at the interface API (Programmers Guide) documents.

    Fizix

  • 0 in reply to Jan Winter
    Intellectual 750 points

    Jan,

    Another option you may wish to consider is our X3-PM55 solution. It uses the DLP5500 chipset, which is the same one used in the LightCommander.  It was created to allow use of standard projector optics. By taking an existing projector .55" XGA projector, it should be possible to inject the fibre into the light tunnel of a standard projector. You can get more info by clicking here  or purchase directly here.

    You can private message me if you want more information.

    - Adam

  • 0 in reply to Adam Kunzman
    Intellectual 290 points

    Hi Adam,

    thanks for the hint, but also quite expensive. Just got the LightCrafter ad will find out if that suits my needs.

    Best regards

    J.

  • 0 in reply to Jan Winter
    Intellectual 290 points

    Hi guys,

    I have another question:

    I removed the middle LED and inserted the 5mm in diameter fiber optic output of the spectral synthesizer. Fits as if the lightCrafter would have been built for it! Can Project any pattern with my required spectrum as planned. But I suspect that there is a color filter somewhere in the optics, because when I use white light it ends up to be green.

    Does anybody have a hint how I can remove that filter or whether the optics of the other 2 LEDs come without a filter?

    Thanks and best regards

    Jan Winter

  • 0 in reply to Jan Winter
    TI__Genius 9935 points

    Jan,

    The LightCrafter's optical module is a design by Young Optics (http://www.youngoptics.com/english/). We don't have detailed internal information about that design. You will have to contact Young Optics directly for more information.

    However, the general design of the light engine is known. It is a dichroic combiner design, which uses dichroic filters to combine the light from the 3 LEDs (RGB) into the illumination path. This means that each LED port (that is, where you place each of the 3 LEDs) "looks" through an arrangement of dichroic filters such that each LED (according to its wavelength region) provides its light maximally onto the DMD without being lost onto the other LEDs. This means that you cannot insert light sources of any arbitrary wavelength into any given port. The R port must be in the red region, the G port must be in the green region, and the B port must be in the blue region. Otherwise, the light of the "wrong" wavelengths will be attenuated by the dichroic filters of the combiner.

    Best regards,

    Pascal

  • 0 in reply to Pascal DLP
    Intellectual 290 points

    Pascal,

    thanks for your hint. I have tried contacting Young Optics through their main info email address, but I didn't receive any response, yet. Would it be possible to send me the email address of an Young Optics engineer to my email address: j.winter@tu-berlin.de?

    That would be really helpful, going via their info email address doesn't seem to help.

    Thanks and best regards

    Jan Winter

  • 0 in reply to Jan Winter
    Intellectual 750 points

    Dear Jan,

    We're selling the optical engine direct from Young, so I have a few contacts I can try. To be clear, your looking specifically how to remove the diachronic filters? You can private message me if you wish.

    I believe each LED port will have a dichroic filter (each filter passes through the lower spectrum and reflects the upper spectrum). My first inclination is to try the blue LED port. We've not torn apart an engine in detail, so this may not be accurate.

    If you replace the filter with a mirror, you'll want to do that on the LED port that is closest to the DMD in the illumination path.

    Hope this is helpful. Will see what other info we can find and go from there.

    Adam Kunzman

    Keynote Photonics, A DLP Design House

  • 0 in reply to Adam Kunzman
    Intellectual 500 points

    Dear Jan,

    We can provide you a low cost engine like the PICO on which we can perform the modifications for you.

    We can also provide all details on the mechanical parts so you can install it in your system.   With regards to beam shaping and modifications we can assist you with the design and light shaping especially concerning coherent light source.

    Should you be interested please contact me at yuval_k@ekb.co.il    we can provide you with drawings and additional material on the engines we can provide.

    EKB Technologies LTD, A DLP design house.

    www.ekb.co.il

  • 0 in reply to Yuval Kapellner
    Intellectual 290 points

    Dear Yuval,

    thanks for your offer. I already modded the LCr to my needs successfully.

    Best regards

    Jan