Illuminance

The human eye is a fascinating structure. It can distinguish about 10 million colours, and a luminance range of about one hundred trillion (100,000,000,000,000).

Traditional photocells (also called light-dependent resistors or photoresistors) only have a luminance range of less than 10,000. As can be seen in the table below, this only covers a very small range of the ambient light that we encounter every day, which has a maximum range of 130,000.

light dependent resistor

A traditional light-dependent resistor

Illuminance Example
0.002 lux Moonless clear night sky
0.2 lux Design minimum for emergency lighting (AS2293).
0.27 – 1 lux Full moon on a clear night
3.4 lux Dark limit of civil twilight under a clear sky
50 lux Family living room
80 lux Hallway/toilet
100 lux Very dark overcast day
300 – 500 lux Sunrise or sunset on a clear day. Well-lit office area.
1,000 lux Overcast day; typical TV studio lighting
10,000 – 25,000 lux Full daylight (not direct sun)
32,000 – 130,000 lux Direct sunlight

However, the latest technology has enabled new light sensors, which cover a luminance range of up to 55,000 lux. Although still far from the range of the human eye, this covers most of the ambient light we see on a daily basis.

The good news is, Tritium now contains this technology! This will allow Tritium adjust its brightness to be easily seen in the intense summer daylight where we do most of our jumps, and dim to an appropriate level for night jumps – and everything in between. Even better, Tritium will do all of this automatically.

We’ll make sure that Tritium will not only look awesome, but also that it will be the appropriate brightness for all situations! So if you haven’t signed up for it yet, what are you waiting for?

jumping in different conditions

Tritium will set its brightness depending on the light conditions – from the brightest noon sun to night jumps, and everything in between!