You can do the math, but when you run grayscale, it changes power for every bit or at least could. Before it can lase, it may have to send power data…
3dslice works totally different and is designed for fiber lasers because the way grayscale works you have poor results, as you apparently found out.
Oz posted this when there was confusion over how the 3dslice works. Don’t know if you have access to the beta area, it’s there, but I’ll post it here for those that don’t have access.
With 3D Slice, each pass is thresholded to the current threshold value, and the result is run as a 1-bit image. If you use 256 passes you get exactly one pass per gray-level in the image. Every pixel at or below brightness 255 for the first pass, every pixel at or below 254, then 253, and so on.
If you choose 128 passes, you get every pixel at or below 254 for the first pass, then 252, then …
It “clusters” the layers together into batches if you use fewer than 256 passes, and will duplicate some layers (with even spacing) if you use more than 256. 384 passes would duplicate every 2nd layer. 512 passes would duplicate every layer.
Make sense?
He also stated in a post about 3dslice for diodes.
Diodes have extremely good power linearity, and you’re generally just engraving wood or plastic, so use ‘Grayscale’ mode - that’s what it’s for.
Grayscale mode does not work well for deep, consistent metal removal for galvos, so 3D slice was added for those machines. It was not “removed” for diodes and CO2 systems, as they already have the grayscale mode to accomplish this.
