Razer Copperhead and any other Laser Mice

[Derektm]

I've read that the lasers in Razer copperheads and G5's etc. are infrared. If its supposed to be invisible, why can I see the red laser if I stare into it at the right angle?

Also does anyone know how eye-safe these actually are? On the bottom of the mouse it says "eye-safe". The actual beam that I see is about as big around as a .05mm mechanical pencil lead. Also some mice use Infrared LED's (I think they kind that are in TV remotes), are those eye safe?

Thanks for any input on this from anyone experienced with laser technology etc.

 

[icarus4586]

As far as the "eye-safe" part goes... the laser diodes and LEDs used are low power, even lower than a normal laser pointer. If they use infrared, it's invisible anyway, so it won't harm your eyes.
As far as the small visible beam from the infrared laser goes... my guess is that it's relatively high frequency infrared, and either it's high enough that some eyes can detect it, or there are multiple frequencies that bleed into the visible spectrum.

 

[Bassyhead]

I don't know particularly about those mice, but many infrared lasers output a wavelength on the edge of the visible spectrum so you can still see a little bit of red light. CD players use infrared lasers which are a bit visible, but don't let what you can see misjudge the output power. A laser in a CD player can be up to 5mW.

The fact that a laser cannot be seen visibly does not mean you are immune to any damage that it can cause, regardless of the power. The eye absorbs light from all spectrums, whether or not you can see it. This is why the pupil appears black, because it aborbs light. Read more about laser safety here.

 

[Born2bwire]

My Logitech G5 does not produce a light that is visible to me. It would not surprise me if they produced the light for aesthetic purposes and to discourage people from looking into the laser (if the light is on, the laser is working and thus no need to look at it to check).

 

[Derektm]

Originally posted by: Bassyhead
I don't know particularly about those mice, but many infrared lasers output a wavelength on the edge of the visible spectrum so you can still see a little bit of red light. CD players use infrared lasers which are a bit visible, but don't let what you can see misjudge the output power. A laser in a CD player can be up to 5mW.

The fact that a laser cannot be seen visibly does not mean you are immune to any damage that it can cause, regardless of the power. The eye absorbs light from all spectrums, whether or not you can see it. This is why the pupil appears black, because it aborbs light. Read more about laser safety here.

So if eyes absorb light from all spectrums, is infrared light from a mouse LED (not laser) dangerous? And the laser in the mouse shouldnt be powerful at all im assuming?

Thanks for the information.

 

[Bassyhead]

Originally posted by: Derektm

Originally posted by: Bassyhead
I don't know particularly about those mice, but many infrared lasers output a wavelength on the edge of the visible spectrum so you can still see a little bit of red light. CD players use infrared lasers which are a bit visible, but don't let what you can see misjudge the output power. A laser in a CD player can be up to 5mW.

The fact that a laser cannot be seen visibly does not mean you are immune to any damage that it can cause, regardless of the power. The eye absorbs light from all spectrums, whether or not you can see it. This is why the pupil appears black, because it aborbs light. Read more about laser safety here.

So if eyes absorb light from all spectrums, is infrared light from a mouse LED (not laser) dangerous? And the laser in the mouse shouldnt be powerful at all im assuming?

Thanks for the information.

If the mouse says "eye-safe" or whatever I'm assuming no permanent damage will occur. You've probably seen those warning labels on CD/DVD drives and players about the laser hazards within. A laser with x (milli)watts of power is a laser with x (milli)watts of power, no matter the wavelength it produces.