Talk:Laser lighting display
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Laser Floyd: The Wall is the most amazing laser light show ever.
[edit] Why the Pink Floyd edit was removed
Two sentences were recently added in the Origins section about Pink Floyd: " Pink Floyd is another well known band who incorporated high output 50W copper-vapor lasers into their outstanding shows. These lasers were the first and one of the only used in a rock concert application."
I am not against expanding the article to include information like this. But I removed this particular edit for the following reasons:
- The first sentence was unclear. It made it seem like PF is "another" band who used copper-vapor, implying that Blue Oyster Cult also used these.
- The second sentence was also unclear. It made it seem like copper-vapor lasers were "the first" used in a rock concert application, and are "one of the only" types of lasers used in a rock concert application. Of course, neither statement is true.
- The first sentence contains an assertion that the shows were "outstanding". This is a strong opinion. More neutral wording might be "impressive shows" or "special-effects filled shows".
- Pink Floyd's use of copper-vapor was in the 1990s. It was long after lasers had been established as a rock concert effect. (E.g., the edit was not related to the paragraph where it appeared, about the origins of laser displays.)
- The edit was also not related to the surrounding material about the origins of US safety concerns and regulations. Pink Floyd's use of copper-vapor was safe -- it did not enter the audience -- and thus there was no controversy or undue concern about their use of this of laser.
- The only thing new about Pink Floyd's use of copper-vapor was the type of laser and the color of the beam (gold). Although interesting, this did not change the laser display world much. Copper-vapor is so rarely used that it does not rate the importance given to it by this particular edit.
Overall, this material was too detailed for the current state of the article.
- If one wants to discuss the early history of laser concerts, other pioneering bands such as the Who (with Holoco) and ELO (with Laser Media) should also be discussed. Otherwise the impression is given that Pink Floyd was the sole pioneer.
- If one wants to discuss laser types and their use for displays ... well, there are many lasers which have had much more of an impact on displays, besides copper-vapor. In rough order, this would be he-ne's (early experimentation), argon and krypton ion lasers, Nd-YAG, and solid-state types such as DPSS. Copper-vapor is interesting but certainly not mainstream.
The intent of the edit is good. It is always nice to see people contributing to this article. I just felt that for various reasons, the two sentences added were not relevant to the location they were added, or to the current "broad overview" state of the article. I look forward to when the article has more detail so that Pink Floyd and copper-vapor use can be put into proper context.
--Pmurph5 00:02, 23 February 2007 (UTC)
