The individual colors composing white light and how they are absorbed differently underwater.

A Quick Photometrics Lesson

White light is comprised of all colors of the rainbow. Take that same white light underwater and it no longer functions in the same manner. The reason is that water is approximately 600 times more dense than air and possesses greater absorption and refraction qualities. In essence, water works as it’s own light filter in that certain colors or “temperatures” of light are absorbed faster than others. What this means is that certain color components inherent in white light are lost as the beam travels through water and when the light reaches its’ target, it will not be as bright as it would have been in air. The color of the beam itself will also change through the loss of some of its own color components–it will be bluer underwater.

As the graph demonstrates, red is the first casualty of water’s color filtration, with orange and yellow failing soon after. Notice also that the least absorbed and furthest travelling light temperatures run from green to blue to violet.

Most incandescent dive lights on the market today have a color temperature of around 3000° which has its greatest output of power in the red area–the same color zone that is the most absorbed and least efficient underwater light beam. To combat this problem, the traditional solution has been to pump greater amounts of energy into the lamp. We thought it made sense to explore developing a lamp whose color temperature works more effectively within the limits of what water would allow without an increase of power to the lamp.

The result is our newest innovation: The Light Cannon^TM100. By using a High Intensity Discharge Bulb, the Light Cannon’s beam travels in the highly efficient blue-violet color temperature of 6000° which allows the light to travel twice as far as incandescent lights underwater, displaying undersea life in all of its vivid glory.