Maximum Permissible Exposure in the Laser Display Shows

In professional laser display shows, a single, continuous and collimated beam is kept in motion to create still and moving images. For each direction, defined “a point”, the operator can set the beam power in order to comply with safety standards. This paper describes a method to assess the applicable Maximum Permissible Exposure at a given distance knowing the scan rate of the system, and how to check the actual compliance to the standards by simple mean power measurements. The issue of possible incidents caused by high power laser effects, in comparison with misused laser pointers is also addressed.