Quick note from the bench, since UV questions come up around Halloween season.
365 vs 395nm is not about which is "stronger" - they are different wavelengths, and the visible difference is huge. 395nm puts out a lot of visible purple light, so your prop looks lit but the fluorescent pop gets washed out. True 365nm is nearly invisible to the eye - the fixture looks "dim" but reactive paints, dyes and minerals fluoresce much harder.
Two practical tips if you are building a glow piece this year:
1. Judge a UV light in a fully dark room, never with ambient light. Visible purple tricks you into thinking it is working better than it is.
2. Distance kills UV fast. A strip 2 inches from the target beats a "more powerful" one a foot away.
Happy to answer wavelength questions - we build 365/850/940nm strips and measure every batch on a spectroradiometer, so I have real curves if anyone is curious.
365 vs 395nm is not about which is "stronger" - they are different wavelengths, and the visible difference is huge. 395nm puts out a lot of visible purple light, so your prop looks lit but the fluorescent pop gets washed out. True 365nm is nearly invisible to the eye - the fixture looks "dim" but reactive paints, dyes and minerals fluoresce much harder.
Two practical tips if you are building a glow piece this year:
1. Judge a UV light in a fully dark room, never with ambient light. Visible purple tricks you into thinking it is working better than it is.
2. Distance kills UV fast. A strip 2 inches from the target beats a "more powerful" one a foot away.
Happy to answer wavelength questions - we build 365/850/940nm strips and measure every batch on a spectroradiometer, so I have real curves if anyone is curious.