IEC 825-1 eye safety classification of some consumer electronic products

The recently amended IEC 825-1 (and consequently CENELEC EN 60825-1) laser safety classification document, incorporates changes from the previous issue which although improve the maximum allowed emitted LED intensity, it still poses problems to the classification of free space optical link products. The changes from the previous issue are mainly concerned with LEDs, allow approximately 50 times higher output optical power from the previous specification.. We show that in spite of the changes, most of the existing free space optical links cannot be classified as class 1. Calculations are given for class 1 classification, based on Accessible Exposure Limits (AEL), of maximum permissible source intensity in mW/Sr, for typical products available in the M arket.. Under the umbrella of consumer electronics a considerable number of products are now available making use of Infrared (IR) optical links. The most widespread application of this technology within the consumer electronics market is the television remote control unit. As consumers we now expect to control our televisions remotely and for the new generation of consumers-our children it is the ‘norm’. There is hardly a household without remotely controlled televisions. More recently, new “living room entertainment ” products have emerged, hi-fi systems using remote control units, and products such as wireless IR, hi-fi audio phones, allowing us to enjoy our music without disturbing others, and at the same time giving us freedom from trailing wires, Fig.1.