Put together a green light tonite...

robk

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I had a green LS hanging around, and I was bored, so I made a ZLT sandwich with it. Put it in a Brinkmann Legend with a NX-01 optic for a bit of a flood. My question is, why would anyone want a green light? I have a red one, to preserve night vision, many white ones for obvious reasons, but I cannot understand why anyone would want a green one. Are there any uses for it other than looking for blood on the ground? I think it's horrible!
Rob
Photos follow:
green1.jpg

green2.jpg
 

jcciv

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Green leds are the brightest overall, I believe, and green is supposed to co-exist better with Night Vision Goggles.

I have gotten rid of all of my non-white lights except for 2 or 3 reds that I keep around for night-vision preservation use. The problem with the greens and blues is that they change the color of everything so much, they are not worth using, bright or not.
 

newg

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I agree about green & blue.
Am I the only one who swears by amber?
 

jcciv

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True, but that is the only good thing that I have heard about green, other than it is bright.
 

Double_A

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newg-

After white, I prefer amber. Because of the lower voltages and non-insect attracting color, I prefer amber to any other color.

GregR
 

revolvergeek

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I love green LEDs. They tend to be very bright, and maybe it is just my eyes but they don't seem to distort colors really all that bad.
 

jtice

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While I agree, that colored leds are horrible for color retention. I like cyan alot, VERY bright. I have a turqoise/cyan arc AAA, which seems 3 times as bright as the white version.
Cyan is not as bad about messing up colors. Plus , it has a great WOW factor. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
I want a green x5t to go with my white one, then a 5W cyan mod. After that, I dont want tany colored ones. Just not functional enough. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif
 

IsaacHayes

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Purdy! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif That looks bright. I can only imagine how bright a 5w would be. Green is just fun I guess in addition to being bright like cyan to the eyes. Good for signaling too. Green and other colored luxeons may not be good for flashlights but for pure color applications they rock.

Anyone ran into a yellow-green green luxeon? I think that would look really cool!
 

pedalinbob

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i have a cyan 5w, and i can tell ya...it is BRIGHT!

freakishly bright.


dont have it permanently mounted in a light yet...

Bob
 

Icebreak

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I have a somewhat unpopular opinion of 5W cyans. I think they work very well in the woods. My perception is that they cause different green flora to become accentuated singularly which results in a kind of rendition. They make the bark or the "wood" of the woods to become differentiated from the greenery which causes further object rendition.

However, my current favorite for the woods is a white 5W 7.5V 30mm in the form of an EL Blaster V.


[ QUOTE ]
IsaacHayes said:
Anyone ran into a yellow-green green luxeon? I think that would look really cool!

[/ QUOTE ]

IsaaccHayes -

I'm certain that I've read about many people who have run into yellow-green luxeons and would be willing to part with them for little or nothing.

I tried my best to not comment on this but, I just couldn't pass it up. Whip my ars and call me little miss Polly Prissy Poo. I know I'm gonna pay for this post and I deserve it. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 

flownosaj

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okay, you're little miss Polly Prissy Poo...I'll leave the whippin' for Sasha /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif



-Jason
 

tsg68

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I love green LED's and usually have a turquoise Arc AAA with me. I think when folks say that green light coexists with NVG's, what is meant is that those who wear NVG's on a regular basis like folks employed in military and law enforcement find it easier to transition from viewing green light to viewing through the green cast of the illuminator in the NV gear better than viewing red or white light and then viewing through NV gear. when the transition needs to be quick, say, illuminating a map and then spotting through a Night vision scope or monocular or even donning NVG's under combat conditions, having the adjustment to the transition go quickly and smoothly could save your life and may just be more comfortable as well.

Personally I like the green it doesn't throw me at all, and actually seems to improve depth and definition. I use red to preserve natural night vision though and as little of that as I can get, I like the original Infinity in red for that purpose, as it is not bright enough to compromise my NV but is just bright enough to read and such.

TSG /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 

robk

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I took the green light out tonite for a "test drive", looking at bushes and shrubs, etc. I don't see how you could use this light for any practical purpose! The green just wipes out any color recognition and is so bright that it overwhelms your vision. I get quite a few diamondback rattlers in my backyard/dock area, I don't think I could see them clearly with green light. I guess I'll stick to white,(which is nowhere near daylight, but that's a whole other topic)so I can see those nasty demons. Actually, as much as I like LED lights, I feel that my E2e (or E2 or LX) incandescent actaually does a better job of "sweeping" an area to see what's there. Maybe it's time for an L4? I do have a 5W LS, but I only use it for short bursts of light, I gotta get over that!
Rob
 

Quickbeam

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Actually green is used with night vision equipment for the following reason: (direct from the USAF Flight Surgeon's Guide, Chapter 8)

[ QUOTE ]
Blue-green cockpit lighting is used in aircraft in which night-vision devices are used because, unlike the human eye, these devices are not sensitive to light at that end of the visual spectrum.

[/ QUOTE ]

Since the NV equipment is less sensitive to light at that end of the spectrum, the NV equipment doesn't "bloom" as badly with green light as with white light, however, turquoise would actually be better per the info above.
 

IsaacHayes

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Icebreak: I'm not talking about poor quality white dog urine green. I'm talking about an honest true, GREEN Luxeon like the one robk built. Only on the far end of the color bin spectrum, yellow green. They have binning for colored luxeons. Example, some cyans look like blue, and others green instead of cyan.
What I'd like to see is a green luxeon that is on the yellow green end of the spectrum.
 

tsg68

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Quickbeam, I've read that it is not just the "bloom" factor that is causing ground forces to carry green lights for personal operational use but also that they find it easier to transition from a green light to the NVG's (does not strain the eyes to switch back and forth between the two as I previously mentioned), that they can discern colored markings on maps (like red and yellow) better than they can with red and still retain a decent percentage of natural night vision and that it does not startle wildlife or domestic animals readily, which has always been a factor in maintaining stealth during night ops. Apparently the transitional ease has been the major contributing factor to an increase in requests for issue personal green lights, since night driving and assaults have become quite common place. One company offers this for military procurement and active duty private purchase, it's also non conductive and Seals have been using a dive variant since 1992:

Phantom Warrior light

TSG /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 

LEDependent

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Green is most likely to destroy your night vision, as your eyes are most sensitive to it. Your eyes are made up of 'rods' and 'cones', the latter of which see color. Rods, although they see in b&w, are more sensitive to light and are used in the (near) dark. Rods, like photographic paper, are not sensitive to red. Your cones pick up the red, while the rods' night vision is preserved. At least, that's what I heard.
 

tsg68

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I'm not saying that it doesn't degrade night vision, I am saying that those who rely on low light illumination AND NV gear have chosen it as a better alternative to white light which completely destroys Natural NV and blooms out NVG's or Red which preserves it, yet causes transitional problems. It is considered a balance to a pendulous problem. I mentioned before that I prefer extremely low levels of red light for night vision retention, but then I am not in a position where I need to transit back and forth between NVG's and low light illumination. I'm simply regurgitating what I have heard from field operators. If you follow the logic, supposing you were a soldier who is used to either functioning in low level green light (Airborne night operations and/or green lit TOC's under NVG friendly conditions) in preparations for night ops and then transition to the green illumination of NVG's, I would venture that you are used to green light in general for low light night conditions and may find a green personal light familiar and easy on the eyes and brain, makes sense to me. I, personally, have not experienced any great loss of night vision while using green and use a turquoise AAA on a regular basis but don't rely on it for that, I find that light levels seem to take a larger part in NV retention than just color. I believe that now the military is more interested in developing better NV systems and IR illuminated operational environs that would eliminate visible light completely (note the IR fixtures for sale on the Phantom website above, they state that they are great for Tactical Operations Centers in blackout conditions).

Sorry for the off topic drift but I just want to clarify that there are more reasons than one for the choice of green light as a compliment to NV gear and that even if it refutes science as we understand it, there are reports to the effect that it is popular.

TSG /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 

Icebreak

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IsaaccHayes –

I understood what you where talking about. My comment was a poor attempt at dork-like humor. My apologies.

I don't know the chemistry that makes greens, cyans or ambers but I would think it would be an alteration to the chemistry on the grid that would produce a nice yellow-green emitter. I can see the usefulness and cool factor of such a light.

[ QUOTE ]
jcciv said:
Snip... , and green is supposed to co-exist better with Night Vision Goggles.

[/ QUOTE ]
I've heard about this before. Looks like tsg68 agrees with you here.

[ QUOTE ]
newg said:
Am I the only one who swears by amber?

[/ QUOTE ]

Not at all. Many members like amber including Double AA. I don't have one. There have been some discussions about tritium lights for pilots and map reading that were very interesting.

[ QUOTE ]
revolvergeek said:
I love green LEDs. They tend to be very bright, and maybe it is just my eyes but they don't seem to distort colors really all that bad.

[/ QUOTE ]

Good point. Since learning a little more about light at CPF I've concluded that we all receive and process light differently. In my case green LEDs turn everything shades of green. Cyan seems to distort colors to me less than others report. In your case green doesn't distort colors nearly as much as it does for me. I think it is our eyes and how our onboard CPUs process it.

[ QUOTE ]
jtice said:
I like cyan alot, VERY bright. I have a turqoise/cyan arc AAA, which seems 3 times as bright as the white version.


[/ QUOTE ]

When fishing, I clip a white ARC AAA on the left side of the bill of my cap and an ARC turquoise on the right side. I really like my ElektroLumens Modded M*g, 5W Cyan 12,720 lux light a lot. I'm sure Wayne J. would agree this should not be compared to a Mr. Bulk SNII @ I think around 8,700 lux (which I still don't have) in that the SNII has to overcome the phosphor and also the different outputs is like trying to compare limes and snowballs. I would think the SNII would deliver incredible rendition at ridiculous distances. The EL 5W Cyan Blasts out painful brightness.

[ QUOTE ]
pedalinbob said:
i have a cyan 5w, and i can tell ya...it is BRIGHT!

freakishly bright.


dont have it permanently mounted in a light yet...

Bob

[/ QUOTE ]

I thought you had that thing mounted on your bike; or was that BentHead? I get you guys mixed up sometimes.

[ QUOTE ]
flownosaj said:
okay, you're little miss Polly Prissy Poo...I'll leave the whippin' for Sasha /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif
-Jason

[/ QUOTE ]

Thanks, Jason. To return the favor, please take my place in the long queue seeking the wrath of Sash's leather strap.

Quickbeam –
Clear, factual, concise and documented. Nice contribution as usual.

LEDependent –

I believe you are exactly right.


All –
[ QUOTE ]
tsg68 said:
It is considered a balance to a pendulous problem.

[/ QUOTE ]

I quoted this because it also seems to also cover the general nature of the subject of green Vs red for night vision. Looking at Mars through binoculars this month? Red or amber or tritium yellow might be best. In a combat situation? Green might be best.

robk –

The only green I have is a four Nichia LightWave. It was my first LED flashlight not including key chain lights. It is used for late night household navigation. Zip for color rendition; very nice for object rendition. It is weak enough to not completely destroy my NV. I'll never get rid of it. I like 5Ws with slightly blue (full moon) tint the best but for seeing rattlesnakes, I think a warm 5W would be good to bring out the browns.

As far as your green light goes; I'm sure I like it much more than you do…good job. I won't attempt to buy it from you. Talented ModMen like yourself will simply re-modify the light to suite your needs or experiments or whims.

This is an excellent discussion.
 
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