Flashback 3 has been honored as the 2006
“Hardware Product of the Year” from the
International Laser Display Association.
|
|
The
Flashback 3 is the smallest, easiest and most economical way to add
high-quality graphics and beams to a stand-alone laser projector.
In fact, the Flashback 3 is so impressive, that it won the
ILDA Hardware Product Of The Year Award
in 2006.
This credit-card sized wonder can play laser graphics, beams and
even complete Pangolin-quality shows. No extra computer hardware is
needed – the tiny Flashback 3 has everything you need to control your laser projector.
Inside or outside the projector
The Flashback 3 is currently available in two forms:
FB3-SE - A board-level product, ready to be installed inside
a
projector or on your custom control box.
FB3-QS - A convenient and rugged black box that
connects to a PC via USB. No external power supply is needed.
Creating the shows
To create Flashback 3 laser images, you can use Pangolin’s best-selling
Lasershow Designer 2000 to create
complete laser shows and download them to the FB3. Alternatively,
you can use our award-winning
QuickShow software included free with
the Flashback 3. You can also import any ILDA-format
laser files you happen to have, or acquire online.
If you need more power,
LivePRO can also be used. And thanks to the similar user
interface shared by both QuickShow and LivePRO, the learning curve
is reduced.
Set up hundreds of laser cues; each cue can be a word, logo,
graphic, animation, beam effect or even a complete show. On the FB3-SE,
the images and cue data are then stored on a removable memory card. A
128MB card holds up to 20 minutes of laser graphics, animations and
beams. Of course, because it is solid-state, there’s nothing to wear
out or break or get jammed.
Playing the shows
Using the board-level FB3-SE, playback and control can be accomplished in a number of ways:
- DMX control: Frames or animations are loaded into
memory and played on demand using the DMX-512 lighting standard.
In addition to being able to select the frame or animation, DMX can
also control Image size, Position, Rotation angle, Playback speed, Scan rate, Brightness, Color,
and Write/Erase.
- RS 232 serial: The FB3-SE offers similar control
capability through RS-232 as are provided through DMX-512.
- TTL: The FB3-SE provides several options to control the
playing, pausing and stopping of a select number of cues via TTL.
(Note that TTL can only be used to control the FB3 if USB is not
being used.)
- USB: Pangolin's
QuickShow is an application that
you can use to create and edit frames and animations, upload files to the
removable memory card, add geometric correction to the projected
image, and then perform shows Live if desired.
- Automatic playback: Using LiveQUICK, you can specify a
cue or sequence of cues to start playing automatically upon
power-up. The cue or sequence can play once or continuously.
Using the FB3-QS, playback and control can be accomplished using
QuickShow or
LivePRO.
High-quality images
Flashback 3 laser images look the same as from full-fledged Pangolin
systems. That’s because Flashback 3 outputs high-quality
projector signals: two 12-bit channels
for X and Y scanner signals, and up to eight 8-bit color/intensity channels, typically used to control red, green, blue
and intensity signals.
Small size and low power requirements
As shown above, the Flashback 3 is very small -- the same
rectangular size as a credit card. And the Flashback 3 SE only requires
a single +5V power supply and consumes only 100-300mA of current.
Because of this, the Flashback 3 SE can easily be integrated into a
laser projector with minimal cost.
Expandability
The Flashback3 SE is a base board with 2 optional daughter boards
add-ons, the DMX and USB. These daughter boards can be purchased
separately to reduce costs on applications that do not require the
extra features. (The Flashback 3 SE includes the base board, plus the DMX and USB daughter boards.) And for special applications, Pangolin can provide additional
functionality either through client-specific firmware or even
custom-designed add-on daughter-boards.
Choosing between the FB3-SE and FB3-QS
Below is a chart that shows some of the similarities and
differences between the FB3-SE and FB3-QS.
Note
that the FB3-SE is sold only as an OEM board-level component,
intended to be embedded within a laser projector, while the
FB3-QS
is a more user-friendly package that can be connected to a PC using
the USB port.
|
FB3-SE |
FB3-QS |
|
|
|
Form factor |
Credit-card
sized board |
4x2x1 inch
metal box |
Show
storage media |
SmartMedia
memory card or XD Picture Card |
No removable memory -- uses PC
memory |
Suggested
use |
Build into OEM
laser projector |
Connect to a PC for live or
preprogrammed shows |
Outputs |
Two 12-bit for
X & Y (single-ended - differential optional)
Four 8-bit for color
Optional TTL outputs |
Two 12-bit for
X & Y (differential)
Eight 8-bit for color
|
How
playback is controlled |
DMX
Serial, USB, or TTL
QuickShow
or LiveQUICK utility program |
DMX with QS, using optional DMX to USB
adaptor
USB
QuickShow utility program |
Playback
parameters |
Play cues (up
to 432 in memory, or thousands in QS)
Image size
Position
Brightness
Rotation angle
Playback speed
and many other show-performance-related parameters... |
Play cues (thousands in QS)
Image size
Position
Brightness
Rotation angle
Playback speed
and many other show-performance-related parameters... |
Power requirements |
Single +5V DC power supply |
USB powered |
|