LEDs are generally considered power efficient, but in this project I want this method to be more compact and energy efficient. In this case a small laser diode, powered down to a lower output can offer the needed light stimulation to make the codes visible to the camera ,but also using significantly less power than LEDs at 7-10 feet on the ceiling. I used a normal 5 mw laser pointer with the correct 405nm wavelength and tested this out, obviously there are IR versions of the same laser. I used a larger lens to cause intentional beam divergence expansion. This actually worked well but the lens from the flashlight I used apparently was not perfect and caused some "water spot" like marks in the light. I can try cleaning this lens or picking up another one, we will see.

It appears that it works to illuminate the code with the laser diode,but the light needs to be cleaned up. I believe lowering the output to maybe 70 percent and putting a matt filter over the laser would soften the light and make the code more clear, but using less than 1/10 the power.