Green dot or Red dot?
- Thread starter viking499
- Start date
- Status
1KPerDay
Member
Green supposedly shows up better to the human eye. Personally I prefer red. Generally red dot optics have better battery life than green. Try before you buy if possible.
chicharrones
needs more ammo
My eyes pick up red better than green in nearly every condition I can think of.
No matter if it's an electronic sight or a fiber optic sight.
But that's just me.
No matter if it's an electronic sight or a fiber optic sight.
But that's just me.
shoobe01
Member
Green dots require a green laser which is weird stuff. Quality products that have a green option like the Trijicon MRO have HALF the battery life for green, vs red.
Generally, if you have no experience/opinion: go with red for optical sight illumination/projection, and green for visible lasers.
Generally, if you have no experience/opinion: go with red for optical sight illumination/projection, and green for visible lasers.
Kevin Keith
Member
I wondered why a question about powders was asked in this section. Now I know. lol
Sav .250
Member
Green..............
sevt_chevelle
Member
Green for me.
Stevie-Ray
Member
I use green outdoors for steel. Shows up a bit better, a bit faster for me, even though red still shows against the red stop plate.
CraigC
Sixgun Nut
Green is easier to see in broad daylight.
I use both mainly red dots on the 1911's, 44mags & other revolvers.
I do like to use greed dots on my 22lr semi-auto pistols. They're easier to see with my older eyes & I can pick up target a lot faster when doing random target setups/random distance speed drills.
I do like to use greed dots on my 22lr semi-auto pistols. They're easier to see with my older eyes & I can pick up target a lot faster when doing random target setups/random distance speed drills.
Armored farmer
Member
I have red on my guns. No problems seeing the dot.
Although not, yet, available on pistol sights, Holosun has recently added gold dots to a few of their rifle sights. For a discussion of the reason and benefits of this third color option, check the video
Meeting One Of Holosun's Earliest Employees, Luis!
So far it appears the only models with gold dot option are
HE403R-GD
HE503R-GD
HE512C-GD
Meeting One Of Holosun's Earliest Employees, Luis!
So far it appears the only models with gold dot option are
HE403R-GD
HE503R-GD
HE512C-GD
Swampfox is now offering their 1X Blade prism sight with amber illumination. The amber/gold color does seem to work better for those that are color blind.
https://www.swampfoxoptics.com/blade-1x25-prism
While a Prism is too big to use on a pistol, they do work well. I have a green Swampfox Blade and it is a nice sight.
https://www.swampfoxoptics.com/blade-1x25-prism
While a Prism is too big to use on a pistol, they do work well. I have a green Swampfox Blade and it is a nice sight.
For laser sights (sights that actually put a laser dot on the target--not optical dot sights) there are limits to the allowable power output to insure that they are eyesafe.
Those limits are stated in terms of pure power output--milliwatts. But it turns out that the human eye is quite a bit more sensitive to green light than red light. So a green laser at the same power limit will appear brighter than a red laser. This turned out to be useful because in bright conditions, a maximum power red laser usually isn't visible while a green laser at the same output power level shows up better due to the human eye's higher sensitivity at that wavelength.
The second issue (again as it applies to laser sights, not dot sights/holographic sights) is that red LEDs tend to use less input power to create a given amount of output power so green lasers tend to use batteries faster than red lasers.
BUT, that's not what was asked about. The question was about a dot sight--an optical sight with a dot reticle--not a laser sight that puts actual light on a target.
In that case, the output power is not an issue--you can turn the dot reticle up to a brightness level that is going to work for nearly any conditions--regardless of color. You're not fighting the same kind of legal power limits as with a laser sight so the color choice should be made on personal preference and/or application. If you're going to be shooting/aiming at a lot of reddish/orangish things then maybe a red dot is not ideal. If you're shooting where the background tends to be subdued colors, maybe red would work better.
And because the power output required to make a dot sight work is so much lower than what is required for a laser sight, battery life should be essentially identical for either color choice.
Those limits are stated in terms of pure power output--milliwatts. But it turns out that the human eye is quite a bit more sensitive to green light than red light. So a green laser at the same power limit will appear brighter than a red laser. This turned out to be useful because in bright conditions, a maximum power red laser usually isn't visible while a green laser at the same output power level shows up better due to the human eye's higher sensitivity at that wavelength.
The second issue (again as it applies to laser sights, not dot sights/holographic sights) is that red LEDs tend to use less input power to create a given amount of output power so green lasers tend to use batteries faster than red lasers.
BUT, that's not what was asked about. The question was about a dot sight--an optical sight with a dot reticle--not a laser sight that puts actual light on a target.
In that case, the output power is not an issue--you can turn the dot reticle up to a brightness level that is going to work for nearly any conditions--regardless of color. You're not fighting the same kind of legal power limits as with a laser sight so the color choice should be made on personal preference and/or application. If you're going to be shooting/aiming at a lot of reddish/orangish things then maybe a red dot is not ideal. If you're shooting where the background tends to be subdued colors, maybe red would work better.
And because the power output required to make a dot sight work is so much lower than what is required for a laser sight, battery life should be essentially identical for either color choice.
chicharrones
needs more ammo
Where I live, there's always a lot of green. Nearly year round. Such is the nature of living in a warm area where it rains a lot.
chicharrones
needs more ammo
Amber in an electronic dot sight is new to me. However, your posts sure made me really study traffic signals last night while driving back home. Red, Yellow, Green.
From testing, amber seems to be easier for people that are color blind to see. And as far as traffic lights go, the colors are set at the standard so that color blind people know what is what.
Only if the vertical light set follows the order spec'd in the roadway standards. Years ago some towns set their lights "upside down" causing color blind travelers a lot of problems.
- Status
Similar threads
- Locked
