Optical Power Meter Guide
Optical power meters and detectors have been served by Newport for over 30 years. The offering ranges from a low cost, hand-held meter to the most advanced dual channel benchtop power meter available in the market. Our 1936-R/2936-R series boasts state-of-the-art analog boards with a whopping 250 kHz sampling rate and femtowatt level resolution, easily dwarfing competition. ILX Lightwave offers and a unique optical power/wavelength meter for accurate optical power measurement with wavelength measurement and a precision fiber optic power meter for test measurement of fiber optic components. Note that Newport and ILX Lightwave products are not cross-compatible.
Selecting an Optical Power and Energy Meter
See our Optical Power Meters to browse our standard models, or select a product series below to learn more about our products and capabilities. We also offer a complete line of Low Power Sensors, Laser Power Sensors, Laser Energy Sensors, and specialty sensors such as the PEPS Series Power & Position Sensors and LIAD Series Lock-in Amplifier Detectors. Power Meter Kits are a good choice for basic power measurements. However, once you have a kit, it is easy to extend the capabilities by purchasing another detector or a meter Newport offers.
Benchtop Power & Energy Meters
Handheld Power & Energy Meters
Virtual Power & Energy Meters
Power Measurement Kits
| Model | 1936-R / 2936-R | FPM-8220 | 1919-R | 844-PE-USB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brand | Newport | ILX Lightwave | Newport | Newport |
| Instrument Type | Benchtop | Benchtop | Hand-held, portable | Computer interface only |
| Channels | 1 / 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Photodiode Detector Compatible | ||||
| Thermal Detector Compatible | 919P Series only | 919P Series only | ||
| Pyro Detector Compatible | 818E Series only (obsolete) | 919E Series only | 919E Series only | |
| Analog Output | (converted from digitized values) | |||
| Analog Bandwidth | Up to 400 kHz | 15 Hz | 15 Hz | |
| Data Storage | 250,000 pts internal | via USB memory and PMManager™ | Via PMManager™ | |
| Measurement rate per second | 10,000 | 15 (Up to 5,000 for pyro) | 15 | |
| Trigger In/Out | ||||
| Computer Interface | USB, RS-232 | GPIB, USB | USB, RS-232 | USB |
| PC Software | PMA* | PMManager | PMManager | |
| Field Upgradable Firmware | ||||
| CW or Averaging Measurements | ||||
| Pulse or Peak-to-peak | (photodiode) | (pyro) | (pyro) | |
| Frequency Measurement | ||||
| Wavelength Measurement | ||||
| Filters | Analog and Averaging | Averaging | Averaging | |
| Statistics | Via PMManager™ |
Note: indicates that the feature is available. –R power meters are RoHS compliant version of legacy -C models.
* PMA means Newport Power Meter Application software.
Power Meter Measurement Modes
| 843-R | 844-PE-USB | 1919-R | 1830-R | 1936-R/2936-R | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Photodiode | Power | Power | Power Exposure |
Power | Power Peak-to-peak power RMS power |
| 919P Series | Power Single shot energy |
Power Single shot energy |
Power Single shot energy Pulse power |
Not compatible | Power Single shot energy |
| 919E Series | Power Energy |
Power Energy Exposure |
Power Energy Exposure |
Not compatible | Not compatible |
| PEPS | Power Single shot energy Track (Position) |
Power Single shot energy Track (Position + Stability) |
Power Single shot energy Track (Position + Stability) Pulsed Power |
Not compatible | Not compatible |
| LIAD | Power | Power | Power | Not compatible | Not compatible |
Optical Meter Display Units
The Newport power meters can provide the readings in various units, depending on the types of the detectors used.
| Display Units | 1936-R/2936-R | 1830-R | FPM-8220 | OMM-6810B | 1919-R | 843-R | 843-R-USB | 844-PE-USB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | ||||||||
| dB | ||||||||
| dBm | ||||||||
| J | ||||||||
| V | ||||||||
| A | ||||||||
| REL | Via PMManager™ | |||||||
| W/cm2 | ||||||||
| J/cm2 | ||||||||
| SUN* |
Notes: indicates that the specified unit is available.
* Available measurement units are dependent on the detector type. The SUN unit is only available with 818P series thermopile detectors.







