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Obviously new, with a question..

Tomybooy

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Hey all.

Beam wise ONLY - Is there a maximum output that exceeding it won’t make a lot of difference and it’s a waste of money?
I mean, let’s say a 1.6W 450nm laser provides a nice fat clear beam, would a 3W 450nm laser produce a noticeable difference? Or nothing that’s worth the extra money?
Again, never mind burning and all that, just beam visibility thickness and all those other good stuff.

So is there an output like that?
If there is, I would love to know about 445-450nm laser, and also for 532nm green type.

Thanks a lot guys.
 





GSS

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Around 2W's of 445nm blue is a good medium, beam visibility and price wise.
A140 diodes can do 1.8W and a M140 diode can do 2.2W and are far the best prices.
Your not going to get a fat beam with a 532 green unless it's focusable which most of the time they are not.

A few great well respected and trusted builders here. "Lifetime17" is US based and can put something together that's very affordable and metered with a true output.
Not some crazy high power claimed China based sight that use heavy used diodes and cheap drivers.. Plus shipping can be 2 day priority..
Something to think about..
 
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Hi TB,
Yes what GSS said if interested I can build you a moderately priced 445nm build. PM me if interested.

Rich:)
 

GSS

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I’m actually more of a fan of the PLTB450B. I swear mine has been through hell and back, twice. lol
By divergance standards the PLTB450B wins. The OP though seems so want a wider beam??
 
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By divergance standards the PLTB450B wins. The OP though seems so want a wider beam??
Yup PLTB450B thumbs up , but dont forget the M140 or even an A140 all are really great diodes.

Rich:)
 
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I have been very satisfied with the beam specs of the M140s for many years now and the added power is a plus too. Compared to the higher power blue diodes, M140s look great to me. I do have one doing 2.2 watts with a G2 lens and it is pretty tight and burns great as I recall. Don't burn much any more.
 

Encap

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Keep in mind:
It takes 4X the output power to double the visual brightness---so twice the brightness of a 1W 445nm laser is about 4W.

532nm green is about 10X visually brighter than 445nm--so a 300mW 532nm green laser is about as bright as a 3W 445nm

Beam visibility to an observer is complicated real world phenomenon of light, eye sensitivity, and reflection from particle/aerosols in the air the details of which are not intuitively obvious. It is not a matter of only output power or wavelength. Example: in fog any given laser beam is much brighter than when there is no fog.
A "laser beam" is invisible in a vacuum regardless of wavelength or power .

See post #2 and other post in this thread: https://laserpointerforums.com/thre...visibility-by-wavelength.103772/#post-1551516
 
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I agree, but I can tell the difference between a 1 watt blue laser and a 2 watt blue. The 2 watts isn't twice as bright, but it IS brighter.
 

Encap

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I agree, but I can tell the difference between a 1 watt blue laser and a 2 watt blue. The 2 watts isn't twice as bright, but it IS brighter.
I agree. I can tell the difference also --1W vs 2W beam --the higher power creates the illusion of a more solid/substantial beam rather than ethereal and.or transparent -- it is a little brighter but not dramatically so - seems to be that way for lower powers.
With higher output lasers at some point the visual overload is so intense/bright that an additional 1W for example makes almost no difference visually example 5W vs 6W 445nm.
 
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As a rule of thumb, I've considered doubling of power output of a laser to be enough to see a marked difference of brightness, but shifting the wavelength longer by only 20 nm makes quite a difference to the eye too. For blue, when close to the same power or greater, I prefer as long a wavelength available. For example, at the same amount of power output, 465 nm blue is brighter than 445 nm blue by quite a few percent, it's not double the brightness, but sure makes a significant difference to me.



 
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As a rule of thumb, all wavelengths are brighter until you get to 555nm and then they start to decrease in visibility for equal powers as they continue to increase in wavelength.
 
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Yea, that's it, wavelengths shorter or longer than 555 get dimmer and dimmer the further away from that center green wavelength you go. For red at 670 and blue-violet at 405 nm, can be very weak appearing, even though plenty powerful.
 

Tomybooy

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Wow that’s a lot of info lol
But I think I get the hang of it.. thanks a lot guys! This looks like a great community!
 




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