Laser Straight

[apollo2011]

Most of you have probably seen the commercial for the Laser Straight. It is a wall-mountable laser that projects a line across the wall for haning objects. Of course, it is only accurate as you are in placing it on the wall.

 

The part I do not understand about the commercial is when they show it with the laser line going around the corner onto a perpendicular wall. The narrator also acknowledges that, "Laser Straight even goes around corners!"

 

However, I cannot understand how this would at all be possible unless mirrors were involved--and even if they were, a mirror would turn the line into a dot projected onto the adjacent wall,

 

You can see Laser Straight at:

http://www.asontv.com/products/1075855371.html

 

and for more links:

http://www.google.com/search?q=Laser+Straight&start=0&start=0&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official

[5614]

it will not curve around corners, i cant find on the official site anywhere which says that it does.

its just advertising 'language' a light wont bend around a wall of its own accord [unless mirrors are present] or it diffracts through a prism or something.

[apollo2011]

Thanks for the quick reply 5614

 

What you said is what I thought... but the sight says otherwise.

 

I just went to the official site for Laser Straight. There is a small window that should start playing a video similar to that of the commercial (but no sound). Be sure to pay attention to the text that comes up. When I played, if you pause it, you can see the line going around the corner and it says "Goes around Corners" and there is fine print underneath that says something but I can't read it except for "Laser must be positioned..."

 

Link to Official Laser Straight Site:

https://www.drdynamics.com/products/laser/?tag=1026

 

<edit> I think the fine print says, "Laser must be positioned on corner." I am not sure but that seems to make sense I would imagine the commercial was computer edited. I don't even think the line is as bright as they show it as.

[5614]

yub yub

two things:

there's small print cant quite read it in that tiny window, something about the laser and the corner

also, looking at the image, the line does not appear to be on both sides of the corner, and is probably a CGI (computer generated image) anyway.

[RICHARDBATTY]

The lazer may sweep rapidly side to side which would allow it to show the line along the wall but also along a wall at any angle. Think of it more like a torch with the lense painted black apart from a thin strip across the center. The light would apear as a line on both walls.

[5614]

i see what you mean, but if you watch the video then you will see that the wall is at the wrong angle, it is at 90 degrees clockwise, rather than 270 degrees clockwise (or 90 degrees anti-clockwise)

also, if you look at the images of the device it doesnt look like this is how it is designed.

it would also allow the person standing at laser level to be blinded by it!

also lasers are lines, they dont work like torches, so your idea, whilsts clever wont work.

[Cap'n Refsmmat]

I believe you mount it on a tripod by the corner and it makes the line around the corner like that.

Or something similar.

[RICHARDBATTY]

i see what you mean' date=' but if you watch the video then you will see that the wall is at the wrong angle, it is at 90 degrees clockwise, rather than 270 degrees clockwise (or 90 degrees anti-clockwise)

also, if you look at the images of the device it doesnt look like this is how it is designed.

it would also allow the person standing at laser level to be blinded by it!

also lasers are lines, they dont work like torches, so your idea, whilsts clever wont work.[/quote']

Sorry I didn't explain that well. The torch was just an example to help visualise what I meant. I watched the vid twice and the second time I paused it and it dosen't show the beam go round the external corner. The instuctions for use will give warnings about viewing the beam to prevent law suites. The only way the device could put a line on the wall is by scanning. It will have a rotating mirror like a laser printer but the hole the beam comes out of will restrict the sweep angle to 40 degrees at a guess. This would show a line partialy on an internal corner at its usable range. This is enough to mark that point and start again from the other wall. EDIT I just had another look and I think the small print says laser must be pointed at corner.

[5614]

in the attached image the laser would not go around the corner.

there are no mirrors, no nothing, i think that it is misleading advertising.

 

a rotary mirror on a corner could reflect the laser along any corner. however seemingly there is no mirror for you to have to set-up.

a mirror in the device itself would mean that the beam could be placed in any direction [within the limit of the rotation of the mirror] however, the whole point is to use the line of the laser as the 'ruler'. if you have your laser thingy on the wall, and its pointing at the opposite wall, it would be useless, you need the laser running along the walls to make it useful for measuring and the only way to do that would be to have a mirror on the corner itself.

 

i think that what RICHARDBATTY is saying is that you could point the laser at the wall on the other side of the corner, and then use that mark to reposition the laser. this (a) means marking, which the object is meant to prevent! (b) would still not really work on the kind of corner that is seen in the advert.

 

if you look at the image in the advert, it would be impossible to get the laser around that corner without the use of a mirror on the corner, which there isnt, or alot of repositioning of the laser.

[RICHARDBATTY]

Sorry again not a good explanation. Just for information the mirror in laser devices is not just a single reflective surface. It might be like a nut (as in nut and bolt with hex head) with highly polished exterior facets. The laser points at the nut and as it rotates each reflective surface passes through the beam at constantly varying angles causing the reflected beam to scan through its possible range and then jump back to the start and scan again. This gives the effect of drawing a laser line on the object in its path as the speed of the scan is so fast.

[RICHARDBATTY]

in the attached image the laser would not go around the corner.

there are no mirrors' date=' no nothing, i think that it is misleading advertising.

 

a rotary mirror on a corner could reflect the laser along any corner. however seemingly there is no mirror for you to have to set-up.

a mirror in the device itself would mean that the beam could be placed in any direction [within the limit of the rotation of the mirror'] however, the whole point is to use the line of the laser as the 'ruler'. if you have your laser thingy on the wall, and its pointing at the opposite wall, it would be useless, you need the laser running along the walls to make it useful for measuring and the only way to do that would be to have a mirror on the corner itself.

 

i think that what RICHARDBATTY is saying is that you could point the laser at the wall on the other side of the corner, and then use that mark to reposition the laser. this (a) means marking, which the object is meant to prevent! (b) would still not really work on the kind of corner that is seen in the advert.

 

if you look at the image in the advert, it would be impossible to get the laser around that corner without the use of a mirror on the corner, which there isnt, or alot of repositioning of the laser.

I agree that it is a bit deceptive. But what advert isn't. Its like a tampon add where women think they will feel so good using it they'll want to go skating. It would work on internal corners though and even in small print it does say it must point at the corner. This is only possible for an external corner by supporting it on something in the middle of the room at the right height and aiming so the scan passes both sides of the corner. An internal corner would just need you to place it against the wall pointing towards the corner.

[ydoaPs]

maybe it is on a tripod with a wide beam aimed at the corner.

[5614]

to richardbatty: the thing with it is this; your idea would mean that the laser could be shone at any point on a wall, so long as the laser can 'see' it, as in an internal corner. this will no way work on an external corner. however, the whole point of this product is to produce a line of light [from the laser beam] across a wall.

the company wants you to be able to see a straight line of red laser, so you can position your photo along the wall straight.

if you are standing with a laser pointing at a wall, that is no use.... you need the laser pointing along the wall surface so you can see one continuous line of red across the whole wall, you dont want to be able to see a red dot around the corner, you want to be able to see the whole red line.

 

maybe i am missing your point, but your idea seems to fail in that, whilsts it would project the line AT the internally cornered wall, it would not project the line ALONG the internally cornered wall; therefore it is not how the original profuct was meant to work.

[RICHARDBATTY]

5614 Yes it would only go partialy round the corner. The distance covered on the corner would be dependant on the distance from the corner and the sweep angle. I think your supossed to work up to and maybe slightly round the corner and then reposition the device using your previous work as the datum point. The only other way to do it would be to use a mirror set at 45 degrees to the beam and then rotate the mirror on the same axis as the beam. This would produce a 360 degree line and project it on all walls at the same time. You would need it to be on a tripod in the center of the room on a two way swivel and have a two way bubble level to set it up. This would mean that as you worked you would have to avoid creating shadows in your work area and would always be at risk from veiwing the beam so I don't think they would make one like that apart from for industrial use maybe.

[YT2095]

it`s a light beam that will go into corners or around them (I have one here) it`s a single laser pointing at a hexagonal mirror that spins at a very high rate, it`ll do just under a 180 degree arc and project over 1 Km!!!

 

put it in the middle of a room facing a wall and you`ll get a line right across the facing wall and half way around either side too.

 

put it in a hallway next to a protruding corner and it make a line across both flat edges also

 

a bit like you in an area with a flashlight, being able to turn from left to righ, whatever the torch light hits, you`ll see a line, only with a laser it`s a very fine dinstinctive line

[Guest theblueman]

Thank god I found this forum. I saw the commecial and went to the web-site and about lost it until an extensive google search lead me here. They show the beam going around an external corner when in reality it only has a capability for projecting around internal corners. I'm calling tomorrow to see where these kids (the people who made this product) get off showing such a GROSSLY misleading commercial. The number is 818-485-3014. The hours on sunday are only 7am to 1pm pst, I didn't really listen to the other ones that much. So if there is anyone else out there that thinks that promoting a product in a way that seems to defy all laws of physics is wrong... call them like i'm going to.

 

I'm glad YT2095 owns one 'cause i was about to buy one to see what was wrong with this picture. So, thanks! You saved me 20 bucks!

[5614]

good luck, you will probably just get a recorded message, but tell us what happened, what country is that phone number from??

it doesnt look english, so it will be a long distance phone call + the opening hours will be different in another country.

 

but do tell us what happened...

[Guest woman]

* SOLUTION *

I bought the laser-straight, in part because of this particular demonstration in the commercial. It was not apparent at first how to do this and I don't think I would have figured it out without this forum.

 

Congratulations to CAP'NREFSMMAT and YOURDADONAPOGOS as they had it exactly right.

 

Part of the clue is that this particular demonstration in the video is the only one wherein the laser-straight is NOT visible on the wall. Unfortunately, it's up to you to deduce that it is positioned about where the camera is -- not ON the wall. You can hold the laser (on its "side") and point it at the corner and voila, the lines go down both walls perfectly. To keep it steady, a tripod would, in fact, be a good idea.

 

As soon as I read the separate posts by CAP'NREFSMMAT and YOURDADONAPOGOS, I hopped up to try it. (Why were their ideas overlooked?)

 

Thank you very much from Los Angeles.

[5614]

there idea was overlooked (by me) because i didnt think that a device such as that would have such a wide angle of laser, as it can cause safety hazards.... obviously im wrong though!

 

 

sorry guys!

[YT2095]

As soon as I read the separate posts by CAP'NREFSMMAT and YOURDADONAPOGOS' date=' I hopped up to try it. (Why were their ideas overlooked?)

[/quote']

What or Who makes you thinks ANYTHING was overlooked???

[5614]

well, i assume it was the fact we carried on discussing it even though we had stumbled across the answer, but how should we know it was the right answer, it was just a suggestion.

also we were in the middle of a debate over an idea, so you could hardly have expected us to stop and say "yeah thats right" when we were discussing another possible method of doing it (+ we didnt know it was right!)

 

to woman: if you were having a discusion trying to understand something and someone just says an idea, you carry on with what you were talking about before, once that idea is "done and dusted" then you think of other ideas by which time YT in post #15 had told us what it really did.

(you can hardly balme us for not immediately changing all conversation to this new - at what the time was just an idea.)