Anycubic Photon Ultra Kickstarts Low-Cost DLP 3D Printer
The Anycubic Photon Ultra is the company's first affordable desktop DLP 3D printer, and it's nearly hit Kickstarter. The Anycubic Photon Ultra was first revealed earlier this year as a teaser – now it's nearly September 14, the launch date for the device on the crowdfunding platform.
The Anycubic Photon Ultra works with the same build dimensions as the Photon Mono at 222x227*383mm. Print dimensions are a max of 102.4mm (length) * 57.6mm (width) * 165mm (height). Layer thickness is listed at 0.01 ~ 0.15mm, with print speeds at 1.5s/layer, MAX 60mm/hour. This machine's optical resolution will be 1280x720.
The benefits of a DLP 3D printer over an SLA 3D printer include print detail, power consumption, longetivity, and less requirements for maintenance. It's suggested by Anycubic that while an LCD in an SLA printer is generally rated for 2000 hours, a DLP Engine can last 20k hours. The Photon Ultra doesn't need a mechanical fan, and power consumption is "60% less than LCD".
We've reviewed several different sorts of 3D printers over the last several years, from the massive Phenom by Peopoly with MSLA (LCD+LED) to the tiny ELEGOO Mars Pro (also MSLA with 28 50Watt UV LED lights.) On the more traditional 3D printing end of things, there's the Longer LK5 Pro, too – that's PLA printing with lines of filament.
If all the details are as Anycubic claims, the Anycubic Photon should out-do the rest of the printers we've reviewed by a long shot. In the world of at-home 3D printing, DLP 3D printing might very be the future.
The landing page for the Anycubic Photon Ultra can be found on Superbacker, with links to the Kickstarter. There's also a place there where they're pushing for sign-ups for subscriptions to news about the unit if you do so wish.
The first units of the Anycubic Photon Ultra will be made available in "Super Early Bird" and "Early Bird" iterations. There'll be 100 units of the Super Early Bird version for a price of $399 USD. There'll be a further 2000 units available in the "Early Bird" batch for $499 USD. The retail price for this printer at general launch is expected to be $599 USD.