I don't know a lot about data transmission, my main application is display. The mathematics behind data transmission and display are similar, they are based on wave propagation and diffraction and lots of Fourier transforms. The laser power is not overly important, it's the resolution of diffraction pattern or hologram that you produce. It's a very redundant coding scheme, so part of the signal can be lost and you can still recover all the information.
-----Original Message----- From: cctalk [mailto:cctalk-boun...@classiccmp.org] On Behalf Of Swift Griggs Sent: July 19, 2016 6:04 PM To: General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts <cctalk@classiccmp.org> Subject: RE: LASERS! && Freemont Street LED array (was Re: Cray J932SE (was Re: Straight 8 up on Ebay just now)) On Tue, 19 Jul 2016, Mark Green wrote: > In my day job I work on computational holography and other forms of > esoteric 3D displays, so I can give you some insight in how these > things work. Holography is amazing. Do you know much about so-called "free space optical" data transmission? I worked with some gear a few years ago that could transmit & receive using multiple lasers at 1Gbit. I was fascinated with that stuff, but the vendor had their folks do all the alignment and installation. So, I didn't get to work with it much. I wonder if you've seen faster speeds than that. I also wonder what the power levels look like for those lasers and what distances the really serious ones can reach. Can they still work in bad weather? It seemed like the ones that I mentioned, still worked in the rain. -Swift PS: It was the May 1984 National Geographic cover that blew me away and made me forever respect holography. :-) --- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. https://www.avast.com/antivirus
