Laserglow Lyra safety vs brightness?

[Tas]

I was wondering if you could help me with some second doubts I'm having over a laser I bought. I got the 532 nm Laserglow Lyra c5.
I'm having second thought on whether I should change to the 1 mW Lyra or the 3-4 mW, for safety reasons. The one I got is the 4-5 mW.

I've never seen these side by side to know if these smaller powered ones are that much harder to see. I've only seen the cheap ones that you don't even know what they are.

Currently I'm using a red laser that runs on 3 LR45/ AG3 batteries, it's hard to see in a bright room and very hard to see in daytime. Hence the quest for the green.
what I want it for is pointing at things under a good range of different lighting conditions, mostly indoor. Safety is key though.

This is the red, btw:
Amazon.com: iHome 3-in-1 Stylus Pen for with Soft Rubber Tip and Built-in Laser Pointer and LED Light (IH-IP2204W): Computers & Accessories

I've read in some places that as long as the laser is 5mW or less I'm fine. Some where I even read that you're still fine at a little bit higher than 5mw. But on a Princeton University page they pretty much say not to use green lasers at all and stick with reds under 5mW the lower the better.

What do you guys think?

Thanks, Tania

 

[mortuus]

5mW or less is considered the limit to be eye safe, but even that i wouldnt want in my eye no matter what power just use it with caution even though it is low powered and you should be good.

 

[NightExplorer96]

^Mortuus is correct, even though <5mW is "eye-safe" it is best to avoid any laser light into your eye.

I do disagree with Princeton University when they say "only use red pointers". Some examples where a green pointer will be much easier to see are below:

1) Working outside during the day and need to point at something
2) (Even though kills your night vision) aiming at stars during nighttime

Cheesy--->3) When I don't have access to a light-source at night I sometimes use my Anser as a "flashlight"

-Alex

 

[Tas]

Yeah I mean I don't plan on aiming the thing at anyone's eyes but accidents happen.

I actually wanted the lesser powered Lyra, but meant to get the Anser though because aesthetics don't really matter that much and I was just thinking less than 5mw is ok.. And then I found the Lyra C5 for $31 through a reseller so I took it as a sign.

 

[123splat]

Most green pointers are DiodePumpedSolidState (DPSS), which means that I.R. ,from the LASER diode, is pumped through a crystal structure to mechanicaly change the wavelength of the output, to obtain the green light. They typically use a much higher optical power I.R. diode, as is is a relatively inefficient process, and seldom include an I.R. blocking filter on the output side. Which means regardles of the posted optical power (usually understated) for the green emission, you will be getting a much, much, higher I.R. output (which is virtually invisible). That said, it is my opinion, that NO GREEN LASER POINTER SHOULD BE CONCIDERED EYE SAFE under most conditions.
Extra caution is ALWAYS advised.

 

[IsaacT]

Most green pointers are DiodePumpedSolidState (DPSS), which means that I.R. ,from the LASER diode, is pumped through a crystal structure to mechanicaly change the wavelength of the output, to obtain the green light. They typically use a much higher optical power I.R. diode, as is is a relatively inefficient process, and seldom include an I.R. blocking filter on the output side. Which means regardles of the posted optical power (usually understated) for the green emission, you will be getting a much, much, higher I.R. output (which is virtually invisible). That said, it is my opinion, that NO GREEN LASER POINTER SHOULD BE CONCIDERED EYE SAFE under most conditions.
Extra caution is ALWAYS advised.

I would be thoroughly shocked if his Lyra lacked an IR filter. Laserglow sells quality lasers, they wouldn't skimp on that.

 

[ChaosLord]

Any laser between 1 and 5mW will be hard pressed to cause eye damage, as the blink reflex limits the exposure. As for visibility, you may notice a difference between 1 and 5mW as far as the dot goes.

 

[IsaacT]

5mW should be a little over twice as bright as 1mW.

 

[Tas]

123splat thanks actually though this laser has an IR filter, it's why I went with laserglow. At least in their explanation of the IR filter on green lasers it sounds like the filter is effective.

 

[Rifter]

My anser ranges from 2.7mw on startup to 5.2mw after its 90 second duty cycle. AVG around 4-4.5 There is no visible brightness difference in the dot during testing IMO.

Also note that measuring such low mw lasers is also very hard to do as any power fluctuations could just be your breath blowing on the sensor...