Re: Cheap light diffusing material needed - ideas/suggestions?
WuWuZilla wrote:
Hello all,
first off, I'm sorry if I don't use the proper technical/English terms in my descriptions.
If you have questions regarding certain terms, just ask.
To the topic:
For a DIY project, I need a cheap light diffusing material. The setup is several lines of RGB LED strips next to each other. To avoid that the light of each single LED is seen in the lit area, I'd like to diffuse the LEDs light so that it appears to be (more or less) a single uniform light source. So, I'd be looking for a good light diffusing material, e.g. a film/foil or similar. It should be lightweight, flexible (bendable), and cheap. The diffusion material needs to cover an approximately 10x50cm (4"x20") field of LEDs.
Any ideas or suggestions on what material this could be? Either directly available in a store or easily producible by myself. Thanks in advance!
No idea where you are located but some time ago I ordered a PMMA 5mm thick diffusion sheet 82% transmission from
https://www.pyrasied.nl/en/product/cast-acrylic-opal-sheets/
for a DIY 4x5 digital slide copier. Creating a good diffused light source behind a slide is more demanding on evenness than creating a light source for object photography etc.
If the LED RGB strips do not sufficiently mix that way I think you should go for a kind of Ulbright mixing box behind it. Lined internally with white polystyrene high density foam or BaSO4 paint or a paper without optical brighteners + a high white reflectance. Check
http://www.pigment-print.com/spectralplots/spectrumviz_1.htm for paper spectral reflectance.
Be aware that multiple thin opal sheets should be quite parallel to one another and better not touching one another at some point. Unevenness in monitor light can be related to that aspect.
Met vriendelijke groet, Ernst
No photographer's gear list is complete without the printer mentioned !