Why are some street lights only in white?

MA Marianaleung asked on 26 May 2020, 13:12
1 answers / 447 views / 8 votes
KE

Why are some street lights only in white?

It is easier to see colored objects with white light. If the light is colored some colored objects will not be readily visible.

In a monochromatically illuminated area, only the luminance can be discerned, the chrominance is lost. So it would very difficult to tell a green car from a red one, or any other chromatic difference.

Remember the old sodium vapor lamps? The orange ones? Ever notice how hard colors were to tell apart? That’s why.

The even older mercury vapor lamps were heavy in the blue part of the spectrum.

11–10–2019.

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