Topic: Slightly OT: Laptopograms (exposing photo paper with your laptop)

[Ed Wenn]

Francois will have seen this because he subscribes to Photojojo as do I - as may others here - but it's worth passing on. I read about these things called Laptopograms (http://laptopogram.tumblr.com/) in the frequently entertaining Photojojo weekly news letter. You expose standard photo paper with a negative image on laptop screen (or a phone, a tablet PC, a regular computer monitor...in fact anything with a similar light source) and then develop as normal.

Another process which marries the trad and the new. Funnily enough, the images that the practitioners end up with on photo paper have to then be scanned back into their computers for display online or to import into a slideshow. Full circle.

[Francois]

I just grabbed that this morning and thought it was rather interesting. Somehow, it reminds me of the way some of the new HD photo printers work. They have a high resolution screen with a lens that focuses the image on the smaller paper. While some others use direct laser for making the image, the first is within reach of any DIY fan.

One thing I wonder about is if there are any artifacts left from the screen grid and how long the exposure lasts...

[Ed Wenn]

Yeah, I wondered about artefacts and exposure times too. This process might be worth pursuing for POP printing where an enlarged digital neg would otherwise be required. I have 30 odd sheets of POP left and the main hold-up has been the lack of time to generate the digi neg.

I could use 5x4 negs now that I've moved more into LF, but I'm still mostly shooting instant positives with goop, so no easy neg to be had in the short term. Also, the POP I have is 8x10 and larger, so it seems a waste using 5x4 to contact print.

If the quality is good enough I might give this PC monitor light source a go. Also the lower light sensitivity of the POP may work in its favour.

Thoughts?

[Pete_R]

Doesn't POP paper need UV light? Do monitors emit UV light?

[Francois]

As far as I know, monitors don't emit UV light... or else we'd all have a permanent suntan
LCD's offer even less of a possibility of that since they're lit by a set of cold cathodes (or a set of LED's in the case of some models).
OLED screens emit just photons.
Maybe the old CRT could, but as far as I know they use a lot of heavy metals to filter out radiation... Unless you still have one of those green screens from the 70's holding a door somewhere 

[Ed Wenn]

B*gger!

[Francois]

That was about the suntan or you're missing your old Green Screen 

(anyone old or geeky enough will remember the Hercules vid card...)