Also, in the Figure 4 DLP build process, parts are built upside down, and the three-dimensional object is pulled upward from a membrane. With SLA, parts are built upright, submerged in a vat of fluid. Because Figure 4 DLP parts are built on a non-contact membrane, there is no surface meniscus like you see with vat-based SLA. Therefore, it is possible to achieve very thin layers. Combined with the projection process, print speeds with DLP also very high. In regards to post-processing, there is no appreciable difference between DLP parts and SLA parts.
3D Systems DLP 3D Printing
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3D Printing Process: Figure 4 DLP
The Figure 4 Digital Light Processing (DLP) technology from 3D Systems is similar to stereolithography (SLA) 3D printing by curing UV resin with a laser. However, the fundamental difference in build process between Figure 4 DLP and other SLA technologies is that Figure 4 DLP is a projection-based technology, whereas SLA is a laser vector-based technology. Because DLP is projection-based, there is no time relationship between layer time and cross-sectional detail.
