In the usual game of high-tech one-upmanship, diode manufacturers now have started announcing 100mW units. As impressive as a 10-fold increase may seem, these diodes likely will have their greatest impact on the speed of platesetters, not the range of materials they can image. The energy output would have to be increased by several orders of magnitude to image conventional ("analog") plates, for example. One exception may be high-speed UV (ultraviolet) plates, since 100mW violet laser diodes may be sufficient to image these plates, if they can support the slightly higher imaging frequency.
DIGITAL PLATES -- Covering the Spectrum
In the usual game of high-tech one-upmanship, diode manufacturers now have started announcing 100mW units. As impressive as a 10-fold increase may seem, these diodes likely will have their greatest impact on the speed of platesetters, not the range of materials they can image. The energy output would have to be increased by several orders of magnitude to image conventional ("analog") plates, for example. One exception may be high-speed UV (ultraviolet) plates, since 100mW violet laser diodes may be sufficient to image these plates, if they can support the slightly higher imaging frequency.