Laser color? - XDTalk Forums - Your HS2000/SA-XD Information Source!

Lucky7 · 12-31-2007, 05:00 PM

Just wondering the advantages or disadvantages of the red and green color lasers? Thanks in advance!

slugger6 · 12-31-2007, 05:03 PM

Green is more visible in daylight than red.

Smoke_Works · 12-31-2007, 05:20 PM

Green is amazing, glad to see some folks making them these days. I have a handheld green laser that is probably illegal due to the power of it. It can cut electrical tape and pop black balloons, sends a solid beam for 25 miles. Fun as all get out when you pop it at a stop sign from a mile away, it lights it up like a landing craft light. Check before you buy though, my green laser can only be on for ten seconds at a time before you need to shut it off and let it cool before it melts the crystal. They are not cheap in green.

Lucky7 · 12-31-2007, 05:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Smoke_Works

Green is amazing, glad to see some folks making them these days. I have a handheld green laser that is probably illegal due to the power of it. It can cut electrical tape and pop black balloons, sends a solid beam for 25 miles. Fun as all get out when you pop it at a stop sign from a mile away, it lights it up like a landing craft light. Check before you buy though, my green laser can only be on for ten seconds at a time before you need to shut it off and let it cool before it melts the crystal. They are not cheap in green.

Now where can I get one of them...haha? All jokes aside, how does the green do at night? Any cons?

THE SCARECROW · 01-05-2008, 05:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lucky7

Now where can I get one of them...haha? All jokes aside, how does the green do at night? Any cons?

You can see the green laser beam unlike the red in most cases. Thus giving away your position. Hope that helps some.

Smoke_Works · 01-06-2008, 12:09 PM

Depending on the laser yes the beam is visible, however that greed dot is brighter than anything you have seen before, there is no comparison to the red ones.

laserguy · 01-06-2008, 05:51 PM

As several others have indicated the human eye, by nature, is more sensitive to green light both during the day and at night.

Many of the less expensive green lasers are extremely sensitive to ambient (environmental) temperature. In order to mitigate this issue, several of the cheaper ones tend to exceed the FDA power levels by as much as 400%. One of the lasers I have tested ran 20mW at 70 degrees Fahrenheit (any good quality laser will not exceed 5mW at any temperature) . The power dropped to about 0.5mW at 85 degrees. Additionally, the longer the laser runs the more heat it generates, so the power also drops due to operating time. The power also dropped when ambient temperature dropped. The issue with the higher power is that a great deal of the light they emit is in the infrared (IR) range--I don't have a value on amount. They don't have proper filtering to get rid of it so it is an added danger for your eyes. The higher power lasers can actually be moderately painful if they are shined at a white wall a short distance away. If that is the case, don't look at it. Yeah, I know...DUH, but there are some real rocket scientists out there. It could cause some eye damage so be careful with them. Don't use it to play with your pets or kids.

The higher power and higher visibility seems to reflect better off particulate or moisture in the air. So in some cases you have a nice light saber. For a small number of 'professionals' this is an issue. Most of us are not going to find themselves in a position where this will be an issue.

FYI: A red laser is generated by a single solid state silicon chip. Green laser is generated by a fairly high power 808nm (IR) solid state laser chip. The IR light is shined into a secondary laser chip. The secondary chip generates 1066nm (IR) light. Then the light passes through a frequency doubler chip dropping the wavelength/color down to approximately 533nm (green). Then the light is passed though a lens. If the lens is correctly designed it will remove all but just a very small amount of the residual IR light. The complexity of the construction has a great deal to do with the price differential between green and red.

Hope that helps.

sloopy70 · 01-06-2008, 06:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Smoke_Works

Green is amazing, glad to see some folks making them these days. I have a handheld green laser that is probably illegal due to the power of it. It can cut electrical tape and pop black balloons, sends a solid beam for 25 miles. Fun as all get out when you pop it at a stop sign from a mile away, it lights it up like a landing craft light. Check before you buy though, my green laser can only be on for ten seconds at a time before you need to shut it off and let it cool before it melts the crystal. They are not cheap in green.

Can you also shoot down rockets with it???

sloopy70 · 01-06-2008, 06:07 PM

Also, Lasermax makes a Green one you can put on your dustcover rail...

Smoke_Works · 01-07-2008, 05:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sloopy70

Can you also shoot down rockets with it???

LOL, no I bought mine to sit on the back deck with my son and point out constellations with. The beam is pretty cool, especially with snow or fog it really gets fascinating. I mess with neighbors as well, all in good fun of course. One of them goofs around with his red handheld pointer and I fire my green one at the little crystal in his kitchen window...it's like a Pink Floyd show in his house.

12-31-2007, 05:00 PM	#1
Lucky7 XDTalk 100 Member Join Date: Nov 2007 Posts: 224	Laser color? Just wondering the advantages or disadvantages of the red and green color lasers? Thanks in advance!

12-31-2007, 05:03 PM	#2
slugger6 XDTalk 10K Member Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Ohio Posts: 20,013	Green is more visible in daylight than red. __________________ "What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us". - Ralph Waldo Emerson

01-06-2008, 06:07 PM	#9
sloopy70 XDTalk 1K Member Join Date: May 2006 Location: Southwest Louisiana Posts: 1,121	Also, Lasermax makes a Green one you can put on your dustcover rail... __________________ L. J. Joshlin USPSA Range Officer (R.O.) USPSA #A58364 Buckmark UDX Plus Springfield XD-9 10,500 rounds failure free Ithica 12Ga. Ultralight - Gold Trigger Edition Piney Woods Action Shooters sloopy70653@yahoo.com

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12-31-2007, 05:20 PM	#3
Smoke_Works XDTalk 100 Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Hayden Lake, Idaho Posts: 498	Green is amazing, glad to see some folks making them these days. I have a handheld green laser that is probably illegal due to the power of it. It can cut electrical tape and pop black balloons, sends a solid beam for 25 miles. Fun as all get out when you pop it at a stop sign from a mile away, it lights it up like a landing craft light. Check before you buy though, my green laser can only be on for ten seconds at a time before you need to shut it off and let it cool before it melts the crystal. They are not cheap in green.

01-06-2008, 12:09 PM	#6
Smoke_Works XDTalk 100 Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Hayden Lake, Idaho Posts: 498	Depending on the laser yes the beam is visible, however that greed dot is brighter than anything you have seen before, there is no comparison to the red ones.

01-06-2008, 05:51 PM	#7
laserguy XDTalk Newbie Join Date: Mar 2007 Posts: 24	As several others have indicated the human eye, by nature, is more sensitive to green light both during the day and at night. Many of the less expensive green lasers are extremely sensitive to ambient (environmental) temperature. In order to mitigate this issue, several of the cheaper ones tend to exceed the FDA power levels by as much as 400%. One of the lasers I have tested ran 20mW at 70 degrees Fahrenheit (any good quality laser will not exceed 5mW at any temperature) . The power dropped to about 0.5mW at 85 degrees. Additionally, the longer the laser runs the more heat it generates, so the power also drops due to operating time. The power also dropped when ambient temperature dropped. The issue with the higher power is that a great deal of the light they emit is in the infrared (IR) range--I don't have a value on amount. They don't have proper filtering to get rid of it so it is an added danger for your eyes. The higher power lasers can actually be moderately painful if they are shined at a white wall a short distance away. If that is the case, don't look at it. Yeah, I know...DUH, but there are some real rocket scientists out there. It could cause some eye damage so be careful with them. Don't use it to play with your pets or kids. The higher power and higher visibility seems to reflect better off particulate or moisture in the air. So in some cases you have a nice light saber. For a small number of 'professionals' this is an issue. Most of us are not going to find themselves in a position where this will be an issue. FYI: A red laser is generated by a single solid state silicon chip. Green laser is generated by a fairly high power 808nm (IR) solid state laser chip. The IR light is shined into a secondary laser chip. The secondary chip generates 1066nm (IR) light. Then the light passes through a frequency doubler chip dropping the wavelength/color down to approximately 533nm (green). Then the light is passed though a lens. If the lens is correctly designed it will remove all but just a very small amount of the residual IR light. The complexity of the construction has a great deal to do with the price differential between green and red. Hope that helps.