While this article is introducing a manufacturer's new dot sight, I thought you might find the comments about colors interesting. Its intended for handguns and long guns.



https://www.thetruthaboutguns....tter-blue-dot-sight/
"Lucid Optics, a pioneer in cutting-edge optics technology, is proud to announce the launch of the E7 reflex sight with an innovative Blue Reticle. Staying true to our philosophy that “Overkill is Underrated,” the E7 takes durability and versatility to unprecedented heights, catering to both pistol and carbine applications."

"What Makes the Blue Reticle so Special?

• Blue is the fastest transmitted color in the spectrum.

• The Human eye is more sensitive to the blue wavelengths than any other in the spectrum.

• Blue illumination presents a clean edge reticle

• Blue is the most easily refracted wavelength by the human eye

• Blue Creates a “Circadian” rhythm, calming the human mind.

• Exposure to blue light considerably reduces stress levels.

• Less than .02% of people have a color blindness to Blue.

• Blue, as an illuminated aiming point, can be reduced in brightness level allowing the reticle to be “Seen Through” providing a more positive target identification."



It would be interesting to try reticle colors under different lighting conditions: indoors/outdoors, bright/hazy, external light from behnd/ahead daylight/night vision, distances near/far, isolated target on frame versus prey in vegetation, etc.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: RichardC,

quote:

• Exposure to blue light considerably reduces stress levels

I don't know about this one. In my experience, usually when I talk to people after turning on the blue lights they seem pretty stressed !

Marketing hype....

Blue is the fastest transmitted color in the spectrum -- cuz red light is so-o-o-o-o ridiculously slow. I regularly feel that my shooting with an RDS suffers because at 186,000 miles per second, the red light takes forever to travel those 5 inches to my eye.

Blue Creates a “Circadian” rhythm, calming the human mind -- this has what to do with shooting?

Exposure to blue light considerably reduces stress levels -- this has what to do with shooting?

Less than .02% of people have a color blindness to Blue -- OK, what's the percentage for other types of color blindness?

Blue, as an illuminated aiming point, can be reduced in brightness level allowing the reticle to be “Seen Through” providing a more positive target identification." -- as can other colors.

Lucid Optics, a pioneer in cutting-edge optics technology -- Pioneer? Seriously? What have they pioneered? How about Leupold, S&B, Nightforce, Vortex, Swarozski, Zeiss, Hensoldt, US Optics, Leica, Tangent Theta?

Maybe blue works better than red or green or orange. Or maybe not.

And here I thought green was what our eyes were most adapted to.

quote:

Originally posted by apprentice:
And here I thought green was what our eyes were most adapted to.

Same. Searching online, I see exactly nowhere that agrees with their statement that it's blue. Over and over again, it's green, more specifically towards the yellow end of the spectrum. This planet is covered in mostly green stuff, where we've tended to find our food so, yeah, of course it's blue that our eyes are most sensitive to.

I hate marketing like this where they just make shit up like we're all too stupid to know the difference. Just say "hey, it's different. Try it out and see how you like it." Promise you some guntuber is going to get one and bloviate about how "I don't know the science behind it, but it's blue, and it's very, very blue. If you like blue, this is the only one that has any of it, and wow, is it blue" and you'll sell units because you got a bloviating guntuber to make a video about it.

Meanwhile, after trying out a green dot, and a prism with green illumination, I'm totally sold on green over red as the color to use for a reticle, not because of any stupid marketing, but simply because I tried it and found it better.

I suspect every single thing in that marketing ad is bullshit.

On a practical note I once bought blue fiber optic rod to try out. It looked amazing. It was also a shitty color for a fiber optic blade. Looked cool though.

quote:

I suspect every single thing in that marketing ad is bullshit.

On a practical note I once bought blue fiber optic rod to try out. It looked amazing. It was also a shitty color for a fiber optic blade. Looked cool though.

Agree completely. My Colt Competition model in 38 Super came with a blue FO front sight. Looked great until you tried to shoot with it. It was very hard to see.
There's a reason optics are only made in red, green & amber. (green works best for me)

pedropcola and Delta-3, two first hand negative evaluations. Interesting.

I guess I would feel better about it if somebody else was doing it or doing it also, but maybe there's something to it. I thought green was kind of silly until I tried it and found that my red color vision deficiency affected my use of red dot optics more than I realized.

I'll be a believer if Trijicon, Aimpoint, Holosun, Leupold, Sig, or some other real player in the optics space follows along.

No, Lucid weren't the first with blue reticles, just maybe the first version of the E7 with a blue dot.

The author of the article, Dan Zimmerman, said "Lucid claims blue is the most effective color. We can’t wait to give that a try."

Yes, well, I couldn't wait for him to give it a try, either.



It got me to thinking about reticles and colors, and my memory suggested that blue wasn't orders of magnitude better than green and red.

Soooooooooooo ...


Here are seven reticle color comparisons done using an ATN X-Sight 4K Pro 3-14X Day & Night Vision Rifle Scope, set on "Day" vision.

Conditions, rain reduced to 'light', very gray lighting conditions, light breeze, late afternoon.

These are brush piles in front of pinewoods, oak scrub and palmettos. The cottontail bunny refused to pose, but is often seen there.

Most of these images are at 3.0X magnification. There are several at 10X I might post later. The brush pile was about 60-70 yards away.

My subjective evaluation is that the green and yellow colors were the easiest to see in these conditions. Blue, red and orange were next, black was not so good and gray was well, ghostly.

Perhaps gray has a use when the 'scope is set on " Night" vision, using the infrared illuminator.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: RichardC,

I’m thinking since blue & yellow make green, getting rid of the yellow in the green, you get back to a prime color … and just like the Prime Directive, it should be followed.

And I’ve blubbered on enough.

kimberkid out!

quote:

Originally posted by fritz:

Blue Creates a “Circadian” rhythm, calming the human mind -- this has what to do with shooting?

You should know this, at least it's an old bullseye shooting theory for the middle of the last century (or earlier). That one of the secrets to shooting well, is the total removal of "nerves" or excitement. And the total removal of excitement is boredom. So the theory was you wanted to be totally relaxed and "bored" right up to the verge of complacency.

Now is that blue reticle is going to lull you into shooting better, I doubt it.

yeah, but what's the best color light sabre?

RichardC's comparative images above make for a very convenient at-a-glance assessment, but I think the colors produced by the ATN aren't representative of what conventional scope or red dot illumination looks like. The red, for example, is not near as bright as it would be in most other sights, even one that has what most would consider lackluster illumination brightness, like a Leupold Firedot. The yellow and green, when compared to what ATN decided on for red, seem much better, in those images; and the blue seems very similar to the red.

What is your name? Sir Loswsmith of the Forum.
What is your quest? To seek the Holy Grail of the perfect reticle.
What is your favorite color? Blue, no green. [SPRONG!] AAAAHHH!!!!!

Loswsmith

quote:

Originally posted by clang:
yeah, but what's the best color light sabre?

Pffft. Green!

I find blue lights always look out of focus.