diff --git a/src/useq/_mda_event.py b/src/useq/_mda_event.py
index 56e8205..eea198e 100644
--- a/src/useq/_mda_event.py
+++ b/src/useq/_mda_event.py
@@ -71,7 +71,7 @@ class SLMImage(UseqModel):
         used. By default, `None`.
     """
 
-    data: Any
+    data: Any = Field(..., repr=False)
     device: Optional[str] = None
     exposure: Optional[float] = None
 
@@ -86,6 +86,15 @@ def __array__(self, *args: Any, **kwargs: Any) -> npt.NDArray:
         """Cast the image data to a numpy array."""
         return np.asarray(self.data, *args, **kwargs)
 
+    def __eq__(self, other: object) -> bool:
+        if not isinstance(other, SLMImage):
+            return False
+        return (
+            self.device == other.device
+            and self.exposure == other.exposure
+            and np.array_equal(self.data, other.data)
+        )
+
 
 class PropertyTuple(NamedTuple):
     """Three-tuple capturing a device, property, and value.
diff --git a/tests/test_sequence.py b/tests/test_sequence.py
index a620f32..9ecb205 100644
--- a/tests/test_sequence.py
+++ b/tests/test_sequence.py
@@ -488,3 +488,5 @@ def test_slm_image() -> None:
     # directly provide numpy array
     event3 = MDAEvent(slm_image=SLMImage(data=np.ones((10, 10))))
     print(repr(event3))
+
+    assert event3 != event2