PC-controlled laser diode system application

This paper presents a system with a personal-computer (PC)-controlled laser-diode beam to make film exposures for generating 256 gray-level images. The hardware equipment of this system includes an IBM PC, an 8255 interface card, and an XY table. Control software is developed to receive image data from commercially available software, such as PAINT SHOP, then convert them to signals for the laser diode and XY table. The gray level of each pixel (picture element) in an image file is represented by an 8-bit binary number. Two ways of control are demonstrated. One way uses this 8-bit number as a parameter for timing delay when the laser diode is on with a constant power output. The other way uses this 8-bit number to go through a D/A converter to control the laser diode for outputting beams with varying intensity. This way may gain higher operation speed, but requires extra hardware. There are two potential applications for this system. One is direct image exposure of yellow, magenta, cyan, and black for all image processing software data outputs, as long as their format is available. The other is for an educational training program to demonstrate the technologies of integrating computer, laser, and color printing.