[SmileBeyotch]

UV leds.... what is the point? obviously there must be some reason why they would make a uv led AND a purple led.... what r the major differences in terms of performance?

[ukeyouee]

I can't speak to performance, but I can tell you why they would make two leds. Go lighting nerd. The visible spectrum of light is comprised of what we see as red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and violet and any combination of those. Infrared (heat) and ultraviolet (or blacklight) are actually off the visible spectrum. With UV, you won't actually see anything unless it's contacting something that will react to that wavelength (usually fluorescent colors). That's the quick and dirty version...there's a lot of really techncial info that has to do with the physics of your eye and how color is actually percieved by the rods and cones. Lemme know if you wnat the really technical info and I'll dig some sites up for you:-)

[SmileBeyotch]

definitely.. i would love to learn more about it!! one question... so would UV just literally be a blacklight?

[ukeyouee]

blacklight is the laymans term for part of the UV spectrum. there are other parts of the UV spectrum that are dangerous to the eyes at very low levels, so the UV lights that are manufactured for public consumption usually filter those out. Lemme see what I can round up for websites...hang on.

EDIT: http://library.thinkquest.org/27356/index.htm this one looks pretty accurate...if it ends up being not quite what you want, you can always google "physics of light" and it'll give you some good stuff. You can also google color theory...that should explain more about how the human eye perceives color. I'll check my library when I get home and see if I've got any good intro level books on the subject.

[SmileBeyotch]

thanx ^_^ ur definitely a load of help!!!

[ukeyouee]

no prob. you actually asked a question that falls squarely into the category of what I do for a living:-)

[AquaThane]

i have a question, not about the topic, but about lights =) why is that when i'm in my room and have only my blue light on, when i come out of the room everything has a nasty yellow color to it, shouldn't everything have a nice blue color to it since i was just pretty much drowning myself in blue light?

[SmileBeyotch]

Im not sure of the exact explaination from that.. but i think it has to do with opposites(totally guessing) like if u sit with your eyes closed, when you open them everything seems brighter

[ukeyouee]

Originally Posted by SmileBeyotch

Im not sure of the exact explaination from that.. but i think it has to do with opposites(totally guessing) like if u sit with your eyes closed, when you open them everything seems brighter

that's almost exactly right. Your eyes will re-balance to perceive the color of any light as white after a certain period of time. Blue light has almost nothing from the warm end of the spectrum in it. So, when you go from blue light to white light, you're adding the warm end of the spectrum to what your eyes are now perceiving as white light (the blue) and everyhtingh looks yellow. Did that make sense?

[AquaThane]

sweet ... thanks it actually did =) Mmmmm, so if i wanna see blue when i come out of my room i should use a yellow light then i suppose?