HOW MANY MW's DO YOU NEED TO SEE THE BEAM

[Hemlock_Mike]

I do have a couple lasers which according to Dr. Sam can reach
between 0.75 and 1.0 MW ----- But I've never seen the beam :-(
HMike

 

[kilter]

Seriously Hmike??? O.O 1 MW??? not 1mw??? HOLY SH*T!!!

 

[Hemlock_Mike]

Kilter -- I mean 0.75 to 1.0 MegaWatt -- Pulsed
HMike

 

[mhemling33]

To answer the question in the title appx 0.0000002MW

thanks for the laugh!


As for the OP here you go

I like referencing to this page, it give you a general idea on sensitivity ratios but you have to remember there are other factors that will effect actual visibility.

Laser Color Visibility

or you can download a PDF here

 

[Atomicrox]

That table was taken from SAM's FAQ and it's for dots, not beams. For beams you need to factor in Rayleigh scattering which is far stronger on blue than red.

This tool does that math, but be sure to keep beam selected and to include "ChromaCompat=yes" on the address or it'll use the older data, which is less accurate. Beam: (532nm 10mw) vs. (650nm 187.29mw)

Note that even with the newer data this isn't very accurate on the near IR and violet ends of the spectrum.