Risk of retinal injury from “Risk Group 2” laser illuminated projectors

The photobiological safety of optical radiation emitted by image projectors, particularly of laser illuminated projectors (LIP), is addressed by the recently published product safety standard IEC 62471-5 [Photobiological Safety of Lamps and Lamp Systems—Part 5: Image Projectors (IEC, 2015)]. According to IEC 62471-5, the accessible emission is determined at a distance of 1 m from the projection lens. A classification framework is used to categorize projectors into risk groups (RG), indicating the degree of risk from potential optical radiation hazards to the eye and skin, ranging from the exempt risk group (RG0) to risk group 3 (RG3). According to IEC 62471-5, the highest classification permitted for consumer products is RG2. In this paper, a risk analysis for exposure to the emission of LIP classified as RG2, at distances less than 1 m is provided. The analysis shows that the risk for retinal injury associated with RG2 LIP or conventional projectors at distances less than 1 m can be considered as very low to negligible.