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What Is Your Favorite Wavelength?

What is your favorite wavelength?


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What is your favorite wavelength in terms of color? Disregard burning capabilities or eye sensitivity. What color do you find most appealing. I'm not simply asking what's your favorite color in general, but specifically to monochromatic laser light, which do you find to be the most brilliant?

Mine is 532nm and always will be. Then I like the deep rich color of 405nm, then 635nm because of it's red-orange brilliance, then 650nm, and lastly 808nm for obvious reasons. BTY you can tell the difference between 635nm and 660nm, but you've got to compare them side by side.

It's hard to describe how they look in person, and pictures don't even come close. Sure they can show the relative hues, but a camera can never capture the true essence of a specific wavelength of light as the human eye percieves it. Try and describe red to a blind person... you can't do it, it's impossible.

My list may change once I see my 445nm build come to fruition and unfortunately I've never seen a 473nm or 589nm. I can guess, but until I see them in person, I can't truly appreciate or imagine what they'll look like.

I remember back in like 95 when I bought my first green laser and beheld the deep saturated color. From them on that light became the new standard for green light in my mind. You may think I'm crazy but I have a weird fascination for light. I'm obsessed with lasers and LEDs.

My point is, there is more to lasers than lighting matches and popping balloons. Don't you agree? I'd rather have an exotic wavelength over a high power output. I'd take a 5mW 589nm pointer over a 1000mW 650nm or 532nm laser. I care more about collecting wavelengths than lighting match sticks on fire.

-Tony
 





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490-ish. It's kindof a cool "what color is that? is it green or blue?" color.

Same idea with ~425-ish, but instead "what color is that? is it violet or blue?".

Love those tricky wavelengths.
 

Ash

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I would vote 445nm. But I haven't seen one in-person yet, so I don't think I can fairly say for sure.
I voted 405nm just because of it's fluorescing qualities (looks different on different colors).
532nm is a very close second favorite.

Edited to add:
I have several 445nm lasers now, and it is truly my favorite color. Such a deep true blue compared to the sky blue 473nm.
I'd change my vote to 445nm. :D
 
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Yeah they're hard to tell and can actually be perceived differently. I already read that some people see 445nm as more of a purple light and others say that is is completely blue. You'll never really know until you see it yourself.

It's also interesting how the rate of change of color differentiation to the eye is not linear with respect to the rate of change of wavelength. In other words, as you move across the spectrum the colors do not steadily change from one to the other. Rather, some gradually change, like from red to orange, and others abruptly change like from green to turquoise. It's hard to see the difference between 635nm and 660nm and they're 25nm apart. However, you can clearly see the difference between 589nm and 593.5nm and that's only a 4.5nm difference.

Also the "perceived color boundaries" are different in their width along the EM spectrum. The deep blue and yellow regions are much smaller than the red region which encompasses much more of the spectrum.

spectrum.gif


Fascinating!

-Tony
 
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532, green has always been my favorite color and as a clean beem of light it is just amazing,
coming in very close second is 405, its just the neatest because of its blacklight likeness.
 
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i love my 405nm. but it isn't fair to the other colors because they can't do all the neat things that 405nm can. i am so amused just shining it on as many objects as possible.

i will have a 445 this week. i hear they make many objects floures, so i am excited.

michael
 
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Each wavelength has its own perks, but my favourite so far is violet - deceptively dim, until you hit something fluorescent and it rears up and burns bright blue. We'll see shortly whether or not 445nm can de-throne it...
 
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How come brown and pink were left out of the rainbow? haha!
That's an interesting thought, brown light?

-Tony
 
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I'd say 445 even though I haven't seen 445. The ML argon I own has a line close to 445 so I do have an idea of what it looks like. I really want an orange laser even though I haven't seen one.
 
D

Deleted member 16589

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My favorite is 488
 
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I like my 405nm over my 445nm. In the dark it has the black light effect.:D
 




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