Black light!

Do you have Raver Vision?

  • Black light bulbs blind me. I can't look directly at them. It's a white glowing tube of eye pain.

    Votes: 1 5.3%
  • Black light bulbs appear a light purple color. I can look directly at them.

    Votes: 15 78.9%
  • Black light bulbs appear dark purple/blue. I can easily tell that they are on.

    Votes: 3 15.8%
  • Black light bulbs are almost black. I can tell that they are on.

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Black lights produce no visable light. You guys are F'n nuts.

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    19

Drunkskunk

100 GW
Joined
Apr 14, 2007
Messages
7,244
Location
Dallas, Texas. U.S.A.
The other day my father asked me to turn on the bug zapper. It's one of those that uses a black light for mosquitos. I looked over, saw it glowing nice and purple, and told him it was on. "Well, the light bulb must be out then." he said, and wandered off. I looked again, and saw it was lighting up a fair section of the tree and yard around it, shrugged, and then dismissed it.

Then last night my date said she thought one of her black lights was out, because her dayglow painted stuff wasn't glowing as bright. I said, "Yeah, that one" and pointed. she punched my arm and told me I was hilarious. I had to ask if she really couldn't tell by looking which light was out. She can't. So apparently this is a thing. Now it has me wondering just how many people can and can't see ultraviolet light.

I did some research. there are a few people who see UV as well as the rest of the spectrum. I'm not one of those. For me, a black light looks looks a light purplish color when it's on, and I can get around in a room light by a single 40w UV bulb, but it would be hard to read by. And then there are people who can't see UV at all.

So I'm curious, how do the rest of you see black lights. Do you have Super powers? :mrgreen:
 
Drunkskunk said:
The other day my father asked me to turn on the bug zapper. It's one of those that uses a black light for mosquitos. I looked over, saw it glowing nice and purple, and told him it was on. "Well, the light bulb must be out then." he said, and wandered off. I looked again, and saw it was lighting up a fair section of the tree and yard around it, shrugged, and then dismissed it.

Then last night my date said she thought one of her black lights was out, because her dayglow painted stuff wasn't glowing as bright. I said, "Yeah, that one" and pointed. she punched my arm and told me I was hilarious. I had to ask if she really couldn't tell by looking which light was out. She can't. So apparently this is a thing. Now it has me wondering just how many people can and can't see ultraviolet light.

I did some research. there are a few people who see UV as well as the rest of the spectrum. I'm not one of those. For me, a black light looks looks a light purplish color when it's on, and I can get around in a room light by a single 40w UV bulb, but it would be hard to read by. And then there are people who can't see UV at all.

So I'm curious, how do the rest of you see black lights. Do you have Super powers? :mrgreen:

I can see them... nothing new to me. Are we super? .... awesome!
 
Depends. Are you talking woods glass style? These look very dark purple when off.

Filament, metal halide (big 400W bastards used in stadiums) or fluorescent? Most people can see the filament ones, and the metal halide ones, but the actual fluorescent style its not uncommon for people not to be able to see them. I used to do stage lighting and some of the guys would have to put something white next to them to confirm.

Bug-zappers (well, ones that work) actually use a selective gas/phosphor mix and are a different frequency of light. They are similar the Sylvania 'blacklight' bulbs used for PCB exposure, setting certain nail polishes and also for stopping junkies from finding veins in public toilets. It would be unusual for someone not to see those.
 
Good question. The bulbs most people I think come in contact most often with are the florescent or the LED. UVA around 365nm. The bug zapper wasn't the old blue bulb style, but the newer blacklight style, made by blackflag, and using a UVB45 series bulb. They are different from the blue-ish bulbs used in gas station restrooms and old school bug zappers
 
I could only vote one, so I picked light purple, but they do cause me some discomfort, and some of them look dark purple and some look very pale purple, and others in between that.


I can also often see the difference between the UVA/B type fluorescent tubes used for reptile habitats and the normal ones used for room lighting and many aquariums....(dpeends partly on the rest of the lighting in the room or if it's outside). But that could be caused by unconciously-noticed cues in color of objects around the light source (probalby is).


Anyway, different people's eyes have different amounts of receptors for various colors and are sensitive to different amounts of light in various parts of the spectrum, and some people also have differences in the cornea, lens, and fluid within the eye that absorb less or more UV at different parts of the spectrum, so everyone sees color and brightness at least a little bit differently, and sometimes a lot different.


I can (or at least could when I was younger, mostly still can) distinguish very tiny differences in shades of color, while most poeple around me say they are all the same color. :/


How many of you, when posting a reply, can easily see the differences in shade of color of the various boxes for "font color" to the right of the text entry box here on ES? (or wherever it is in your chosen theme)
 
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