Laser Visibility: Green vs. Red Line Lasers

In addition to the laser's output power, its brightness and visibility to the human eye also depend on the laser color. Not every line laser is equally visible, even if the same optical power is emitted. For example, a 30 mW green line laser is significantly more visible than a 30 mW red line laser. It is important to note that this applies to the human eye! If a line laser or a cross-line laser is viewed or recorded with a camera, the difference in visibility may no longer be the same and needs to be evaluated differently. Therefore, when someone says "the laser needs to be brighter", the first step is to clarify the specific application.

Especially in bright ambient light, a green laser can be the ideal solution. However, competing with direct sunlight is always very difficult, even when using considerably higher laser power. And, of course, laser safety requirements must still be taken into account.

Laser visibility depending on laser color

This graph shows the visibility index in relation to the wavelength and therefore the color of a laser. The average human eye has its highest sensitivity at approximately 555 nm. Starting from a visibility index of 1, the relative visibility values for other wavelengths are calculated accordingly.

Among the current MediaLas line lasers, the green models with a wavelength of 532 nm provide the best visibility. They are closely followed by the diode-based InLine models with a wavelength of 520 nm.