There are few sights as enchanting and exciting as laser beams piercing the air, ricocheting off mirrors, and cascading through an audience in a rainbow of colors. The color, kinetics and "wow" factor cannot be matched by any other lighting source.

Atmospheric effects, as illustrated in the images at right, consist of several different elements. Sometimes a show features an intricate web of static beams, while other times the beams may be "scanned" to create patterns such as cones, tunnels and fans. These eye-popping beam effects can easily fill a venue with dazzling laser light, and (with a strong enough laser) can bounce from building to building, cross rivers and fill the biggest arenas. Beams can be combined with open-weave scrims and water screens to add a third-dimension: the airborne beam creates a graphic image as it "slices" though the screen while continuing to travel through the air.

Audience scanning, extremely popular in many countries, is one of the most crowd-pleasing effects in the laser show expert's palette. Beams actually reach out and touch the audience, enveloping crowds in glimmering sheets, beams and tunnels of light.