I think we might be thinking of two different things!
Maximum power you want to run a 60w laser tube at is 20mW. In my case, with my current power supply, that translates to “42%” – If I send a job anywhere between 43% and 100%, the controller will cap it at 42%. If I send a job at “50%” instead of scaling it down to 21% power, the DSP will just run it at 42%, which is effectively 100% for my tube.
When it comes to sharing libraries, my machine calibration would be WAY off, and I’d get awful results just using someone else’s library, even if we’re both 60w machines. If the controller weren’t limiting power, I’d immediately blow my tube on a lot of jobs too.
My particular situation of deliberately oversized PSU may not be entirely common, but I have seen a lot of the 300x700 CO2 machines that are advertised at “50w” that will drive the 40w tube they have in them at 20-25mA when running at 100% (maximum output on those being at 15mA). If the user is aware of it and tells the DSP to cap the power, they still have to scale their power rating, and just like in my case, recommendations and shared libraries become useless.
scaling power in lightburn to make “100%” be “whatever percentage gives maximum tube current” would be a massive step into the ability to share libraries.
The only “master” library I would suggest (and I agree that it’s probably an unnecessary complication) would be a master material list, with entries like “Baltic Birch, 3mm, Cut” or “Rubber Stamp Blank, 3mm, Engrave”
Say for the sake of argument, you and I both had 60w machines with the same size tube, but different manufacturers of tube, power supply, machine, and/or controller, a different sized air assist pump, and a different nozzle style. We could both calibrate our machines individually for “Acrylic, 3mm” and come out with different settings for cutting and engraving.
With this scenario, if I were to send you a lightburn file where the blue layer is cut, and red is engrave, both tagged with “acrylic, 3mm,” lightburn could pull your own settings from your own library and apply to those layers. Just an ability to cross-reference material types. Either way, you create your own settings for your own machine.
Again, I realize after putting this through my fingers several times that a material reference of this type is probably an unnecessary complication, especially for anyone who already knows what they’re doing. I’ve just spent a lot of time helping folks get started that my view is probably skewed toward that perspective.
That said, I still think that scalable power in lightburn on a per-machine basis would be a good thing. I have more than one machine, one where 100% output from software = correct max tube current, and my machine with oversized PSU, where 42% output from software = correct max tube current. I know at some point it’s inevitable that I’ll foul something up between machines and and set power at 50%. The controller will cap it at 42% but it’ll still dump more power into my material than I want it to. It’ll also be helpful to those with the “50w” machines who have limited max power and put themselves in a similar situation as me.