Projector Optics

[LavaASU]

So, ever wondered about those huge Christie and Barco large format projectors? This is what the optics on a Barco FLM look like with it running. I thought the picture looked pretty cool so figured I'd post it. Any questions feel free to ask.

 

[StradivariusBone]

I'll bite! What's with the hoses and pressure gauge? Coolant?

 

[LavaASU]

I'll bite! What's with the hoses and pressure gauge? Coolant?

Yup. These are liquid cooled for the DMD chips and light pipe entrance. It uses a glycol based coolant and the copper heat exchanger in the bottom left of the first picture. The slight pressure helps the pump (you can't see it in the pics) run better and helps prevent fluid loss. Using the liquid cooling helps prevent contaminates from getting into the optics and presumably cools the chips better. If you want to get really geeky these also use whats called a Peltier element or Thermoelectric Cooler to better transfer heat from the DMD chips to the cooling blocks and coolant.

Not entirely sure of the reason for liquid cooling the light pipe on this (if anyone knows, feel free to post).