The main difference between aerial lasers vs graphic lasers is the optical system and scan rate. The scan rate is the ability for the laser to scan it's laser beam through out the lasers designed beam angle or in the X,Y & Z axis (up, down, left to right and distance. Scan rates can range from about 15 PPS to over 50 PPS (points per second) or more
For aerial laser you typically want the scan rate to be a slower 15 PPS to maybe 30PPS, the slower scan makes the laser brighter for the mid air laser beam effects. An aerial laser is usually less expensive compared to a graphic laser projector.
A graphics laser projector on the other hand is a laser projector with a scan rate of 30 PPS or more. The higher the scan rate the smoother and less choppy the laser animation, text and graphics will be and they can handle more complex graphics as well.
Most of today's aerial and graphic lasers can actually do both aerial and graphic laser effects, however as mentioned above if you used a laser designed more for aerial beam effects to do graphics, animations or text, the graphic effects would look choppy and strobe like, however can still display them ( if equipped with and ILDA interface or has the built in graphic programs) and a graphic laser can do aerial laser beam effects pertty good, however the beam effects might be a little dimmer or weaker (but not by much and if you have a pretty powerful graphic laser you can do both graphic and aerial laser effects equally as good, so the more powerful graphic laser would win if you wanted a laser that could do both, you would just need it to have some good power, maybe around 3 - 5 Watts of power.
For the most part most nightclubs, DJs, bands or for used special effects, a laser with a 30K PPS scan rate would have the ability to do both graphics and aerial laser beam effects very nicely and not break the bank.
If you doing mainly corporate events and need a laser for more sharper graphics are more balanced color profile for logos the graphic laser is the better choice
If your just interested in aerial laser beam effects like liquid sky, lasso and hot beams and graphics is not the main concern the aerial laser is the way to go - Just remember if you want to see laser beams in the mid air like in the videos, you need a fog or HAZE machine to see the beams
Both Aerial and Graphic Laser Effects
Aerial Laser Beam Effects
Graphic Laser Effects