azranger
US Veteran
LaserMax has a nice micro laser for my Sig but I don't know which would be better the red one or the green one. Which one is more visable in daylight? Night time? Thanks for any help.
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Lasers-red or green-whats the difference?
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29aholic
Member
I think red would probably be better, but cant say for sure cuz I am red/green color blind
Erich
Member
I asked my dad (an eye scientist) a while back, and here's what he told me. (If I understood his dumbed-down version.)
You know the human eye perceives light through its rods and cones. Rods' peak reception is more or less at 502 nm. Green cones at 534 nm. Red cones at 560-ish. You have more green cones than red.
Background (that I actually am just giving from memory): Rods don't perceive color, just light/dark. Rods are saturated during the daytime and don't contribute much to seeing a wavelength-specific light like a laser. They sure help in the nighttime, tho.
As noted above, the wavelengths of the lasers in question (pulled off various makers' sites) is 532 nm for the green laser wavelength and 650 nm for the red laser.
The reason the green laser is easier to perceive at a given power is that it's closer to the peak of the green receptors than the red laser is to the peak of the red receptors. Further, you have more green receptors and the green laser is also closer to the rods' reception freq.
Dad says, red/green color-blind is sort of a different deal (I asked him not to elaborate), and that the basic explanation he gave to me works for 99.9% of people. Getting back to the rods, he said that you can diminish the power of a green laser about 100x more than a red laser and still have it be visible to the eye as light (although not colored light), just because the rods will pick it up easier since it's closer to their peak reception freq.
You know the human eye perceives light through its rods and cones. Rods' peak reception is more or less at 502 nm. Green cones at 534 nm. Red cones at 560-ish. You have more green cones than red.
Background (that I actually am just giving from memory): Rods don't perceive color, just light/dark. Rods are saturated during the daytime and don't contribute much to seeing a wavelength-specific light like a laser. They sure help in the nighttime, tho.
As noted above, the wavelengths of the lasers in question (pulled off various makers' sites) is 532 nm for the green laser wavelength and 650 nm for the red laser.
The reason the green laser is easier to perceive at a given power is that it's closer to the peak of the green receptors than the red laser is to the peak of the red receptors. Further, you have more green receptors and the green laser is also closer to the rods' reception freq.
Dad says, red/green color-blind is sort of a different deal (I asked him not to elaborate), and that the basic explanation he gave to me works for 99.9% of people. Getting back to the rods, he said that you can diminish the power of a green laser about 100x more than a red laser and still have it be visible to the eye as light (although not colored light), just because the rods will pick it up easier since it's closer to their peak reception freq.
ChattanoogaPhil
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Green is more visible in all light conditions. Red really can't be seen in outdoor daylight. Red is fine for indoors and night time. From my experience a good green laser can be seen easily to 50 feet in bright daylight. Easily means you don't have to search for it. At night a green laser is something like a Star Wars light saber... a tube of light extending as far as the eye can see. Green lasers don't work well in cold temps much below 40 degrees. I think Viridian makes the best greed lasers. I have a LaserLyte that does not perform as well as the Viridian.
OP
azranger
US Veteran
Well OK guys, green it is. Thanks for all the informative responses I appreciate the information.
sheriffoconee
Member
I have both....GREEN is MUCH more visible than red for sure....
day or nite
day or nite
I concur. It's a curse
Guess we can never be telephone repair guys. Five hundred wires all with little stripes and dots and colors.
CAJUNLAWYER
Member
Red vs green laser
From a Nautical view the importance is critical. Red lasers are for Port and Green lasers are for Starboard
From a Nautical view the importance is critical. Red lasers are for Port and Green lasers are for Starboard
YouTube - Helicopter Pig Hunt (no music)
The guys in this helicopter pig hunting video use both the red and green lasers on their rifles. The green seems to stand out much brighter in the failing light compared to the red.
From 3:23 to about 4:40 is when the laser is used and seen the most.
The guys in this helicopter pig hunting video use both the red and green lasers on their rifles. The green seems to stand out much brighter in the failing light compared to the red.
From 3:23 to about 4:40 is when the laser is used and seen the most.
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