The major causes of pre-mature failure in interior boat lighting include the use of expensive LED lights, which can lead to issues down the road. To save money, it is recommended to invest in good quality interior boat lights upfront. Cool white is recommended for visual tasks, work areas, and exterior lighting, while warm white light is suggested for interior spaces as it adds life and vibrancy.
Although most boat interiors are white, there are reasons for this. Clearing visual clutter and organizing can help create a more organized space. Updating your boat interior doesn’t have to be expensive, and there are 12 easy ways to update your sailboat interior, including interior lights, boat interior upholstery ideas, and more.
The color palette is a fundamental component of boat interior design, serving as a practical tool for establishing the mood and atmosphere within the vessel’s interior. The deliberate choice of colors that blend seamlessly is essential for creating a cohesive look. Dual-color LED boat lights typically have a color temperature of 6000K, offering the best performance for color rendering.
When doing DIY projects, it is recommended to use 4000K and higher for better detail visibility. The 3200K and lower color temperature is preferred for more whiter and brighter light. Retrofitting your boat with LED lights can cut the amount of energy used to light your boat by 90%. Red is the easiest on the eyes for late-night cruising, and there are no restrictions on interior lights.
📹 Comparing LED Lights in a Boat Interior
Not all LED lamps are equal. In this short video we compare two different LED lights and the effect they have on a boat’s saloon …
What color light is used for small boats?
For vessels equipped with an onboard power source and with a length of less than 39 feet, A set of navigation lights is required for vessels measuring 4 feet (12 meters) or more in length. The vessel is required to be equipped with one all-around white light, visible from 360 degrees and two miles away, and one pair of red and green sidelights, visible at 112 degrees. Such a distance is five degrees and one mile away. The all-around white light should be positioned at a minimum height of 39 inches above the sidelights.
What color lights are best on a boat?
Red is the best color for LED interior boat lights due to its versatility and ease of use. It is also commonly used in naval ships and aircraft. The best interior boat lights are bullet-proof, saltwater-proof, and capable of running underwater on your boat. The DURANAV® Interior and Exterior Rock Lights are designed with limitless controls through the OutriggerGO app, ensuring they meet all the necessary safety standards. The best interior boat lights are available in various colors and designs, making them an excellent choice for boat owners.
What color light is on the stern of a boat?
A sailing vessel of less than 7 meters in length must display regular navigation lights, or an electric torch or lantern, if not practical. If not possible, they must have a white light to prevent collision. Night diving configurations, with three vertical masthead lights in a red-white-red sequence, may be seen in resort areas or waters with wrecks or reefs. It is important to maintain a good distance from these vessels and be aware of potential divers nearby.
What colour are boat lights?
Sidelights are red and green lights that indicate a vessel’s port or starboard side, while sternlight is white and seen only from behind. Masthead light is required on all power-driven vessels, and must be displayed when under engine power. On vessels less than 39. 4 feet in length, the masthead light and sternlight can be combined into an all-round white light, while vessels 39. 4 feet or longer must have a separate masthead light.
The absence of this light indicates a sailing vessel, as sailboats display only sidelights and a sternlight. An all-round white light can combine a masthead light and sternlight into a single light, serving as an anchor light when sidelights are extinguished.
Is 2700 Kelvin too yellow?
The color temperature of a light bulb can significantly impact its color accuracy and clarity. A 2700K bulb may appear too yellow or “dingy” due to its CRI value, which can cause objects to appear washed out and dull. If you decide to rule out 2700K bulbs due to your prior experience, confirm that it is the color temperature you dislike.
For 3000K to improve color accuracy and clarity, high CRI is as important as a shift in color temperature from 2700K to 3000K. A low CRI 3000K light source will remove much of the yellow and orange hue but will not present colors faithfully. For example, if you want to improve makeup color accuracy in a bathroom, choose a high CRI option.
The “Blue Light Hazard” of 2700K and 3000K is a significant aspect of the 2700K vs 3000K question, as it has been getting more attention due to its health effects.
What is the best color for a boat?
Personal preference and color selection play a significant role in boat painting. Lighter colors like white or yellow reflect more light and heat, providing a cooler experience, while darker colors absorb more heat, making the boat hotter. However, this factor doesn’t significantly affect boat temperature. Quality is crucial, especially when painting boats, as they are expensive and can be easily ruined. Using high-quality paints and employing experienced professionals is essential.
Choosing cheaper options may not be the best long-term solution, as the boat and wallet will suffer. Flight Marine, a trusted boat painting, sandblasting, and spray painting company in the Gold Coast and Brisbane, offers expert assistance with all boat painting needs. Their experienced team is ready to assist you with all your boat painting needs.
What is the best Kelvin color temperature?
Color temperature is a crucial factor in determining the color temperature of a room, affecting its appearance, productivity, and sleep quality. It is influenced by various factors such as living room temperature (3800-4500K), bathroom temperature (3600-4200K), and kitchen temperature (4000-5000K). Understanding color temperature can help create a more comfortable and visually appealing home.
What is 6500K light used for?
Kelvin temperature is a crucial factor in determining the appropriate lighting for a room. It provides a soft white glow, suitable for low-light areas, such as living rooms, dining rooms, bedrooms, and outdoor spaces. The 3100K-4500K range offers a bright white light, ideal for kitchens, offices, work spaces, and vanities. The 4600K-6500K range provides a bright blue-white light, suitable for display areas and work environments. The 6500K and up range offers a bright bluish hue, ideal for task lighting.
Understanding Kelvin color temperature is essential when selecting lighting for a project, as it affects lighting and the overall look of every room. It is essential to consider other factors when selecting lighting, such as functional recessed lights and statement chandeliers.
What is the popular color for boats in 2024?
The trend of incorporating blue in boat interiors is gaining popularity, with a range of hues and placement on hull sides. Blue symbolizes serenity and open spaces, making it an ideal choice for boating. Matte finish is also making an appearance, with fiberglass hull sides and pontoon boat fences featuring a more subdued look. This non-reflective finish is suitable for bright sunlight and doesn’t glare off the boat side.
Quilted upholstery is another trend in boat design, borrowed from the automotive industry. Boat designers are incorporating quilted seats and benches into their designs, adding a touch of pizzaz without overdoing it. This trend allows for a designer-specific pattern that coordinates with other elements in the boat interior, adding a touch of sophistication without overdoing it. Overall, blue is a popular choice for boat interiors, with its versatility and versatility making it a popular choice for boaters.
Why are blue lights used on boats?
Red, green, and white lights are only allowed at night in specific configurations, while blue lights are reserved for emergency or law enforcement vessels. Operators must ensure their vessels are equipped with the proper navigation lights and use them during specific conditions, such as when away from the dock between sunset and sunrise, during periods of restricted visibility, and during heavy rain. Blue or red flashing lights are only for law enforcement vessels.
What lights to use on a boat?
Sidelights are green lights on the starboard side and red lights on the port side of a vessel, displaying an unbroken light over an arc of 112 degrees. The angle of the horizon arc is five degrees. Such lights are affixed in a manner that allows them to be seen from a position ahead of the vessel to a position behind it. In the case of vessels with a length of up to 20 meters, the sidelights can be combined in a single light unit, which is located on the centerline.
📹 Truth About Amber vs Clear Off-Road Lights: Which One is Superior?” – Baja Designs
The off-road lighting age-old question: amber vs. clear lights. What is the difference, and can one color of light actually be better …
I’m an optometrist with extensive training in physics, optics, light and illumination, not to mention the human eye. The real reason amber lights “cut through” dust, fog, snow is because amber reduces/eliminates the shorter blue wavelengths from the output beam. The blue wavelengths scatter more than other colors when hitting particulates in the air and thus prevent the beam from penetrating through the fog, snow, dust, etc. It has nothing to do with “optical workload” (whatever that is). Also the reflected blue wavelengths scatter within the eye, degrading the image quality. Additionally, eliminating blue makes the light reflected back to you (allowing you to see the environment) more monochromatic, and thereby reduces the effects of chromatic aberration. And yes, having a better quality image is less tiring for the eyes.
I’m starting to look at it this way: – Amber lights work great for fog, heavy snow and dust. They also work well enough when none of those conditions are present to light up necessary areas of the “path” with slightly diminished output. – White lights work great for lighting up areas when there is no fog, snow or dust, but don’t work when those conditions are present. Amber/Yellow works for ALL conditions, some better than others. White ONLY works when conditions are clear. The obvious choice if you can only get one pair of lights would be Amber by process of elimination. If you can get more than one pair of lights, get a pair of each.
An old northern trick was to turn off your head lights but keep your amber running lights on when stuck in a night time heavy snow (white-out). Naturally you have to reduce speed but, you go from 10ft visibility to several 100ft. I’ve shown it people and who couldn’t believe the hack. I always thought the vehicles sold with fog lights should be of a lower K so you had that choice. Thank you so much for the explanation; now I understand why it always worked!
Former Baja Design customer here (like 20 years ago) – it’s important to know that Narrow-band Amber is better than filtered White as filtered white still has a ton of blue in it. Meaning you need a Amber emitter, not a phosphor converted Amber (Blue LED under a thick blue-blocking amber phosphor) or filtered Amber (Blue LED under a thin blue-passing yellow phosphor, then a yellow filter cutting out the blue). Counter/clarification to the point @1:25, the output is a matter of lighting design – it’s not a failure of the color itself, it’s the cost and component count required for a similar lumen output. But then you have to consider what you’re doing with the light after it’s created as a lighting engineer. If you take a 200lumen white LED and filter (absorb) 30% of the generated light out (Baja here quotes Amber filter loss at 15% @2:04, but remember they bastardized “amber” to really mean “selctive yellow” @1:33), you’re not sending 200 lumens down the road anymore (more like 140-ish). To get that same 200 lumens with narrow-band amber however, you’d probably need 3x the LEDs than one would need with white from the same manufacturer product line. But that’s not aples to apples is it? Because that filtered white is only sending out 70% useful light – so you probably only need 2x the Amber LEDs. This is where the actual design part comes in. You need to know how many lumens of what band of light you need, then you have to design a fixture that outputs that light. Contrast actually causes more eye strain than the total lumens, and eyes do better with contrast at longer wavelengths.
Great article. I’m so glad somebody is talking about what a bad idea those “blue” (anything over 5000k) lights are in every way: more glare for oncoming drivers, less useful visibility, and more reflected glare as well, due to the fact that the shorter wavelengths of blue light refract and diffract more than longer wavelengths, and also that our eyes are not as good at processing them. I’m looking into amber lighting partly to become more visible to other drivers, especially for motorcycles. I notice how attention-getting they are when I see other vehicles with them.
Thanks for the breakdown. Would love to see more of the science behind the explanations you’ve given, just because I’m a nerd and love to see the tests that prove out these recommendations. I find it fascinating to understand how that stuff works, but this definitely answered some of the more nuanced questions that I’ve had.
I run a combo of a single row clear 20″ and two amber squadron sports. I find on nice dry clear night my clear with my led headlights is fantastic. Only drawback to clear is sign reflection can be distracting. Rainy wet nights, snow or fog, I run the amber squadrons in conjunction with amber lamps. This ability to choose my desired kelvin weather permitting has improved my often very dark commute
I build custom flashlights as a hobby, and am glad to see someone that actually understands color temperature and it’s correct application. Another common issue I see is the lumen crazy consumers. Many companies list blatantly false output numbers for wow factor. Others are pretty good about true numbers, but even then that is NOT the only factor to check. Beam pattern, lens clarity, and the correct combination for the intended use are far more important. I have 3 nearly “identical” lights I show people to explain this point. One 4500 lumen 5000K mixed beam, one 350ish lumen 5000K pencil beam, and a 4500 lumen 6500k mixed beam. In the end they usually go for the 5000K mixed beam or the pencil beam light if they are just after throw.
The only critique I have is that our eyes haven’t really adapted to see best at noon on a sunny day. Under those conditions there is so much light available that we don’t have to use every photon we can find. Where we do struggle is at night. We’ve never used the sun to see at night. But we have used fire. A million years of using the warm, yellow light of fire to see in the dark has caused us to be more sensitive to those wavelengths. There’s also some evidence that our ancestors were crepuscular, operating more at dusk and/or dawn than midday. Again, more yellowish light. The science I’ve read shows us more acute in the 3,500-4,300k range than 5,000k. That quibble aside, the fact you even know what “selective yellow” is and that you aren’t pushing for “superwhite” bulbs in the gigawatt range puts you at the top of the list of places I’ll look next time I need lights.
i can tell you from my point of view having larger Fog lights on my truck. I can tell the biggest difference with my fog vs my white lights, the amber color tends to make my whole surrounding more visible with less blowback from what it is hitting with the beam. In the woods it makes the most difference allowing me to see a better angle from the sides of the truck. For me amber is better than blue or white.
I LOVE your “white” light outputs. It’s so frustrating trying to find a product that fits my needs/budget that has reasonable CRI and isn’t BLUE. So silly to me that people run bright intense super blue lights and think that it will be better on road. Driving rural roads in fog/poor conditions regularly has made me DESPISE most modern headlights. HIDs still seem to be killer, especially in a lower temp color. You guys should do a CRI/temp comparison with the big names. CRI is more like “area under the curve” and for our eyes it is usually a lack of reds that our eyes are missing that makes things seem… off when viewed under an LED. They’re getting better about it (I bought a cheap hyper-tough shop light that actually listed the CRI the other day, it was over 70 which is pretty good for generic OTS emitters in a $20 fixture) and I definitely notice. Even if the color of the bulb viewed directly looks really similar, the colors of everything else around and how it affects my eyes has become something I’m extremely aware of as I age. I find it really difficult to read or do finer tasks without the contrast provided by higher CRI stuff.
Nice! Informative article. Based on your testing, I don’t feel too bad about my array of old-school Koito quartz-halogen headlamps and KC Daylighters. They’ve got a warmer (referring to color scale) output, a bit yellowish, compared to many LED lamps I’m seeing. I’m sure they don’t hold a candle to BD lights (see what I did there), but these lights are on my Scout II, which I don’t drive super fast at night anyway. It’s a camping vehicle I use in the deserts east of San Diego.
my opinion is that a set of amber fog and driving lights below the hood are ideal for fog and driving lights (maybe even a spot/driving combo in the grill/bumper) with white for ditch and overhead offroad lights intended to give you more detail at longer range, but I do not do desert… I do what has become known as overlanding. (being a product of the 70s in the midwest I am more partial to callin it boondocking)
Great info, thank you. A little off topic, but for use on road, yellow light is very good for conspicuity. I run yellow filters, lights aimed very low and am confident even the most distracted drivers see this color of light well before white (or any of the crapload of colors coming of the Walmart LEDs you on the road) It works great on 2 wheels also.
What I didn’t hear among the many facets you addressed was the physics of viewing your lit space and what it takes to then change to glance at darkness/unlit space. Only guessing, but amber would seem to be the winner in that category. Red lights in dark rooms and submarines would seem to support that. Or is the sport such that all the attention is forward? Nice stuff. I appreciate having more science to understand what has made me so happy changing both my home and work to 5000K. And also having my opinion tempered so I don’t go losing sight of where 3000K has its place. And the blue end science was a bonus. I was recently confused by an “expert” saying that blue filters for viewing computer monitors was just snake oil…..
I’ve been looking for the ideal set up for my TW200. What I find is that the aftermarket LED lights are indeed more blue, but they project much further, which I love, yet I still prefer the temperature of the stock lamp.. The problem is that they don’t flood the ground near the front of the bike the way the stock lamp does, and at night on a rocky, slow hill climb, I have to remember what I saw 20 feet in front of me because it will be pitch black by the time I am actually rolling over or between the obstacle. This article tells me I need a small amber(or more natural color temp) flood bar to illuminate the terrain directly in front and beneath me. I think a combination of those colors with multiple lights might be the ticket. Thanks for the great article!!!
The “best” result is actually all the different colours run together, along with NOT pointing them all straight ahead on high beam, but having some up, some down and some to either side, in all colour configurations from amber (orange) through yellow to white, to a crystal white (a bluish white) to pure BLUE as well, because funnily enough, “reflective road signs” are best viewed at night, with a blue LED (pure blue) which doesn’t do much as a general light, until a sign is seen in the approaching distance, when the BLUE comes into it’s own lighting up the sign, long before you can read it correctly, if only seen using either amber/yellow or white. It has something to do with the way we see BLUE better when it returns from a GOOD reflective surface, than from being “not reflected” back from the likes of trees, dirt and anything else apart from, the reflective painted surface of “a sign”.
Amber is a good choice for a couple of very good reasons. 1: Your body is able to function by gradient and yes/no logic. So, everything is somewhere between black and shiny yellow. For example, road signs light up like lasers when you have amber beams. 2: Amber beams limit the number of potential combinations for reflection and refraction. So, in some aspects you see less, but do more with what you see. 3: If you go on a long trip, when you turn off your headlights at the destination, the sensation of sudden dark isn’t as severe. — Full color beams give you more contrast. Black, red, and grey show up better with full color beams.
Eye fatigue does play a part but from a photonics engineering perspective. It is actually the wave length of the light that makes a difference. Light at the higher end kelvin light scale has a shorter wave length and is more susceptible to dissipation from water vapour and atmospheric dust. Light at the lower end of the kelvin scale has a longer wave length and able to more efficiently pass through an atmosphere which has water vapour and dust in it
Amber (selective yellow) is overkill for me. My eyes would be happy if more lights were made with neutral white (4000k to 5000k) LED’s, so it’s nice to hear that BD is one of the few using LED’s in that range, and I’ll have to keep that in mind when buying lights again. High CRI would be the other thing that would make these lights so much better, and that’s not something a lens swap can improve.
FINALLY!!!! Its taken be a long time to change from Halogen because of all these 6000k lights. I hate them to drive behind. The issue with blue light is even worse in high humidity as blue refracts sooner than yellow so you get even more glare. Thats why fog lights are yellow but you dont need fog to “see” the difference. 3200k is my fave allrounder.
My experience with amber / more yellow light is that you see better in the shadows where the light do not hit, in snowing condition i actually found that blue light cuts trough the snow better. Also amber / yellow is less tiring for the eyes. But still I prefer white light 4000 to 5000k when driving because I can see things better, but you need more light with no shadow spots.
For me the biggest advantage of amber lights is knowing that I’m not blinding others. When I had white lights people would often flash their high beams at me, even when I only had my low beams on. Now I have ambers (rated at the same lumens as my old white lights), I’ve noticed people don’t flash their brights at me any more.
Sounds like the script for this was written by a sales dept that has ZERO understanding of the Physics of lighting. Perhaps leave Colour Temperature to Physicists or to the Gaffer who lit the advertorial. Duh the amber is dimmer – it’s a Filter over the Emitter that is absorbing some of the frequencies.
reason i choose amber light over clear blue lights is because it flex back at your eyes and blinding both of ya driver in front of you including yourself and ambers light have no flex back which safety for both driver and you and it does give you more visibility to see wide range and far and make it easy to read sing on pole (if it was blue u never see a sing because turn into mirror and blinded you) i dont have set of leds amber or leds else i have set of old light that alway show closer to amber colors it just little bit brighter and my alternate wasnt happy to keep up with all light and engine tech else if i was old classic vehicle no computer it would run a lot better than computer controllers vehicle
I remember years ago putting a set of sylvania silverstar bulbs in my car and initially they appear to be brighter than stock, after a while I put the orig back in because I found that I had better vision with the warmer color even though it appeared dimmer. with my first 4×4 I put a pair of 100w halogens and my current truck has a pair of little 2″ square amber LED’s(the ad said they were 3″ but they fit so nice I decided to just keep em). they don’t carry too far cuz they’re really small, but still a huge improvement over stock headlights and I really feel the warmer color gives you better depth perception and doesn’t kill your night vision as bad as the more blue lights that are so common
Anyone here ever drive in France pre-1993 when selective yellow was mandatory for all vehicles’ road-illumination lamps? As a tourist I initially found them novel but as I adjusted over time I found them to also present much less glare, specially from oncoming cars. That’s probably because the output was cut by those thick yellow glass lenses of the era. 18 months ago I had surgery done to my eyes (lens replacement.) Now I still have to consciously dismiss the distinct halos that appear from all intense light sources (LED’s are the worst, I can count the rings.) Oncoming high Kelvin LEDs headlights can really distract the hell out of me (if I let them) but the warmer colors induce far less fatigue (eye and mental) during longer drives.
Fun fact: France in the late 80’s still had yellow bulb in cars, Was so much better than white light, but because of Europe, we had to change to white for uniformization. We lost so much. I see nothing today on a 2021 car with “fancy” lights, and there is no difference between fully bright or not. Yellow FTW.
Light wavelength is better for yellow/green/purple side of the spectrum. HOWEVER, output is what really matters. Road legal fogs are limited to under 3000 lumens. Which isn’t much. Unless you do serious wattage, it doesn’t matter. And if you do serious wattage, color is a moot point. Natural sunlight is nice. However think of snowblindness. They do make green and
Don’t you mean using an amber colored lens for you 5000K white bulbs is what decreases the output? I think one of you competitors uses a true 3000K LED bulb in their products and I believe it gave them more output rather than less. Could be wrong, but as Kelvin goes up, doesn’t it usually mean less visible light to us?
Yellow lights or amber lights are not as bright as white lights… I look at it this way, in foggy conditions the brighter the light the harder it is to see through the fog…The yellow/amber lights cut through a dense foggy cloud vs a super bright LED or a halogen lamp. Also look at house lights, yellow tinted lights are called “soft lighting” whereas brighter lights with more blue lighting is called “cool white”. My own experience with dealing with driving at night in foggy humid conditions my fog lights cut through and I’m able to see the lines in the road whereas my bright LED headlights will project light further on a clear night vs the amber/yellow lights are doing. ❤
“This is our XL Sport in the wide cornering pattern, as you can see it’s a much more pleasant viewing experience, and this can help a ton in dust snow and fog.”. Ok, why not show us dust snow and fog? This is a article with description “… amber vs clear”. Too many articles claim, but never show results. Don’t be the click bait, show results!
I’m going all out yellow soon. Yellow LED low beam bulbs, one set of fog and a set of driving pods. Going to put 6000k LED bulbs for my high beams. White LED bulbs are too much for the road, they blind up coming traffic. Yellow LED has that sweet spot, brighter than halogen but not crazy bright like 6,000k/6,500k bulbs.
It looks like both of them have a very low CRI. Additionally the white light is too high of a color temperature. If you LED sellers would really push China for 4,300k LED’s with high CRI, you’d have much better products to sell. Currently white LEDs cause eye fatigue quickly and it’s difficult to recognize objects because the color is so distorted. They can also cause night blindness and even be dangerous. That’s why people go with amber, not because they can see further but because they can actually handle using them without as much fatigue. We’re in a really horrible time with lighting unfortunately. We finally have the cheap and powerful LEDs we wanted, but unfortunately they’re all hot garbage because there is no control. It’s become a numbers game and everyone just throws out numbers to try to increase sales of their junk Chinese products. Nobody is really doing the hard work to make the best product. This is why those halogen companies in Australia are doing well. Because even though their products are very expensive and require a lot of watts, they actually produce a lot of usable and far reaching light with a very high CRI.
@ 1:50 Amber color does MATTER! So by using a lens it heats your lights and with more obstruction your reflectors will burn also like you said reduction in output intensity. true amber like the rigid industries 2700K are great as the wavelength are paramount to penatrating ozone in atmosphere. Yes your optical nerve will fatigue IF the LED driver is NOT constant, but wavelength DOES matter in penatrating and not reflecting back at your eyes. But what do I know I’m just a desert rat who’s been doing this for 40yrs
I’m not in a desert so, I don’t agree here. I know all about light and spectrum as I’m in the Marijuana growing industry for the last 12+ years. I live in Wa state with tons of fog, snow, and lots rain and other inclement weather. The best light for my application up here is clear or ( Blue light ) between 5,000k and up to whatever desired spectrum but 7,500k is great for the white mountain snow. I would only use amber for fog situations personally. Thanks for making the article anyways! ✌️
Still spitting facts incorrectly. While during the day, the human eye is most sensitive to yellow/5000k day light but one’s its darker, our eyes shift to be more sensitive to blue/cyan/6000k. That being said if you flood your vision space you disrupt your night vision. This is were yellow and more so red come in beacuse they disrupt less. Either way, you sell some good lights
Guys and gals, quick experiment at home to help you understand how your eyes and brain process yellow and blue light differently. Look at a black and white picture under pure yellow light and then look at it again under a pure blue light, doesn’t matter what blue as long as its pure blue. Your eye will be able to make out more detail in the picture under the yellow light. Its your eye and brain but also its the wavelength of the light interacting with things different. Yellow doesn’t refract or reflect the same way that blue does off rain and snow, stuff like that. Its some really weird quantum science stuff that i cant wrap my head around. Basically there are 4-5 small factors that compound on top of each other that just ends up with yellow light being easier for your eye and brain to process then blue light. White light great at reflecting back into your eye but often whites out everything behind it (closer objects are much brighter then more distant ones thus easier to see) where as Yellow light needs much higher intensity to create the same effect (further objects tend to remain more visible past the ‘glare’ from close objects) and thats the reason yellow is a little better in snow rain and dust. Yellow lights more uniformly. Also, nothing to do with this article just something ive noticed trucking. Projection headlights SUUUUCK on wet roads. If i had to guess i would guess its the fact that the headlights project from a point instead of from multiple points around a reflector?
Ive been running twin S1 WA ambers on my mountain bike for wooded songle track.I see so much better than any warm neutral or cool white light. Amber and selective yellow makes night riding on the single track look like a sunny day, whereas white likes make it seem like a flash light (unatural) I’ve also played with green light s2 pro with work light optic and green lens….makes it feel like moon light… Advantage for green over yellow in the snow..it reflects back at you less than yellow and obvious white.. How is that though if green is higher? On the kelvin scale?
In Australia where we are legally allowed to drive on our roads with driving lights, I have personally found Amber coloured driving lights are a lot easier on the roads especially driving past reflective road signs with 2 spotties, 1 double row 41″ light bar and 2 12″ light bars. When used in a work light/camp light scenario, Ive found Amber lights dont attract bugs as much as white lights do. Just get Amber
The amber light advantage under fog and dust is not just in your eyes, there is a phisical principle called “rayleigh scattering” that describes how the warmer is the lights the easier it goes through the particles in the air. The same reason why the sunsets in the sahara desert are beautiful reddish with sand particles flying all around.
Longer wavelengths are higher energy and refract less than shorter wavelengths. White light has a wide spectrum of wavelengths which results in more refraction and more light reflecting back at the driver. A properly designed fog light should also focus the bean straights out, lower to the ground and wider.
This was a great quick pitch for those who have come here for a fast answer. But Id like to see a more detailed breakdown of the “how’s and whys”, and why competitor companies DD.. make choices like using a 4100K diode behind an amber lens. vs not vs baja etc. I use amber HID and LED for fog and snow where I am and have for 17 years. And in Europe its been used since the auto light was invented practically. It has serious advantages at controlled powers. Which is why I liked in this article he makes that very clear. Not just a sales hit of more is better, buy lots, etc. for the ride in this clip at 4:36 id like to see it reversed, just to test it out. Try the 5k short range and proximity, and the amber in Long range up top. Reduce the overhead eyebrow glare and use the yellow to show that better contrast of terrain to come. Where obviously in poor weather I wan the amber low and down.
The problem is the human eye seems the yellow amber light less per lumen than the more white lights. This is why we are getting rid of the yellow (high pressure sodium) lights on the roadway lights in favor for led “white” lights. The human eye is able to see a lot more per lumen than with yellow. Many traffic studies have been done and that’s why amber lights are going out of favor.
When I was a wildland fire fighter during the spring when it’s really dry in Florida driving your bulldozer down dirt roads and 2 trails stirs up a lot of dust the bright clear white lights make it hard to see with all that dust and smoke in the air .we would turn off the light bars and just use the lights in the grill 🤟
I have seen both in the dunes. If you aren’t following someone and it’s not blowing sand I believe clear is the best. I would say you get the most effective usable light. If you are back in the pack I would recommend amber. I like having my yellow and clear separate so I can use whatever is better for my situation at the time. I find having both on at the same time my clear wash out my yellow.
i live in a ohv park i have to traval for miles jhust to get to a paved road and i have both white and yellow lights and i personally like white better under all conditions the only time i use the amber light on the street only as a fog light cause it dosent blind the oncoming traffic other than that i see no reason to run yellow lights
As a photographer and theatrical lighting designer, this is the best explanation of color temperature in road lights I have seen. I want to also add comment about the myth of a “fan” beam”, which you might want to do a article on. Many, many fog lights rely on using the fan beam only. This is only good for distance. A good “fog” light must also flood light directly in front of the vehicle, since fog on the hiway means you are going slow. I noticed in your vids that you have good “frontal wash”. This is a step ahead of most hiway lights out there.
People need to stop using it on road and blinding people especially if they don’t know how to adjust their headlights right and they shine right in people’s eyes when they’re driving and 1 is pointed in one direction and the others pointed in the another direction they shouldn’t be modifying their car thanks for reading have a nice day
Maybe it’s my eyes but I see so much better and feel more relaxed with the white light than I do with any yellow lights. Yellow seems to strain my eyes actually, so even though some out s are valid with fog, snow, dust etc I still prefer white. The key to white however is keeping it lower to the ground. A white light got me works better in bad conditions when it mounted at the bottom of the bumper vs over the top of the truck shining down.
You barely touch on the real reason why Amber lights work better. The reason you see better with amber light is because it’s less fatiguing on the optic nerve, allowing you to see more detail in the yellow broadcast than in the white. If you will go and pick up a legal pad. You will notice that the legal pad is yellow paper. Because when you read something on yellow paper your brain picks it up quicker and more accurately. Sometimes, just sometimes, it’s good to have studied a number of different Sciences
I bought the Amber LP6s and don’t have the need for any other light. I have a Tundra with a suspension upgrade and they shine far enough that I can’t outdrive them with my setup. I run them when I’m heading to my hunting spot on a twisty trail up to daylight. At dawn the terrain flattens and the lights, which I only need dim for this slow speed, gives me back the features. I’m not sure clear would do that. But they are awesome lights an look good on my truck. Which is always important also. Now I want the LP9s. And a long travel.