The Chroma Trinity: Sunlight, Compressed

Why We Built The Chroma Trinity

Nothing replaces the sun. We know that, and it's printed inside every box we ship.

We built the Trinity to compensate for the hours most all of us spend indoors under light that doesn't serve our biology. We wanted one device that delivers the key spectrums our biology is built for...

Red and near infrared to power our mitochondria, violet and UVA to signal the opsins in our skin, cyan for the circadian clock, and narrowband UVB.

Ideally all of these should be layered the way the sun has always delivered them, with the longer wavelengths preconditioning tissue for the shorter violet and UV light that follows.
No consumer device before the Trinity did all of this at meaningful levels. Red light panels cover one slice. Vitamin D lamps cover another. Nothing covered every key component of the solar spectrum.

The goal with the Trinity is to reintroduce those key wavelengths in a time compressed manner, restoring a connection to natural light cycles.

The Trinity is truly the first device of its kind.

How Sunlight Unfolds Over The Day...

The sun gives our biology light in a specific order. This is the oldest most consistent signal in the history of life on earth.Longer wavelengths first, then shorter wavelengths as the sun climbs. UVB only comes when the sun is high enough for it to reach the ground. The Trinity is designed to mirror that sequence.

Morning: Red and NIR Arrive First

Sunrise is naturally weighted toward longer wavelengths. The atmosphere filters out most violets and UV when the sun is low. Our mitochondria and minds wake up to red. Our skin softens. Inflammation dials down.

Mode 1: Ironforge (always on). Driven with 200 watts across five wavelengths: 630nm, 670nm, 760nm, 810nm, & 850nm. This delivers the same level of photobiomodulation as our standalone Ironforge. It runs continuously and the other two modes can be layered on top.

Red and NIR before (and during!) UV isn't arbitrary. Barolet & Boucher (2008) showed that repeated 660nm LED preexposure before UV delivers an SPF-15 like reduction in UVB induced erythema in 85% of subjects. Red light actively preconditions skin for what's coming next. The sun always gives us red first. The Trinity does the same.

The balance of shorter wave red to long wave NIR is higher in the Trinity vs the standalone Ironforge device. This is intentional as these shorter wave reds interact more at the surface of the skin to balance the Violet and UV from the other channels in this device. The NIR output is still quite significant.

This is the only mode that can be used directly at the faceplate, just keep it moving. Remember, heat is the main safety factor to high intensity red light therapy.

Midmorning: Violet and UVA Rise

As the sun climbs higher, shorter wavelengths start reaching the ground. Violet. Deep violet. UVA. This is the part that's been stripped from indoor life for about a century... the wavelengths our skin's opsins are tuned for!

Mode 2: Lux Vital (gold button). Driven with 100 additional watts. Five more wavelengths added in: 385nm, 405nm, 485nm, 935nm, & 1050nm. This is the mode that makes the Trinity unlike anything else on the market. This mode is only intended for use during the daytime, use too late in the day WILL push back your sleep.

• 385nm targets OPN5 (neuropsin), the UV-sensitive photoreceptor in hair follicle stem cells and skin keratinocytes. OPN5 research has been linked to local skin clock entrainment, brown-adipose thermogenesis and body-temperature regulation, memory and mood effects in aged mice, and myopia suppression in children. Standard indoor light delivers zero here. We are deeply understimulated.

• 405nm targets OPN3 (encephalopsin), the most abundantly expressed opsin in human skin. Published research has linked OPN3 activation to hair follicle anagen-phase extension, adipocyte lipolysis and adaptive thermogenesis, and feeding-behavior regulation via hypothalamic neurons. We specifically selected 405nm because it engages the opsin while sitting below the 440 nm blue-light hazard peak, opsin activation without adding to blue-light hazard exposure.
  

• 485nm hits OPN4 (melanopsin), our primary circadian photoreceptor. The Trinity underdelivers cyan when compared to sunlight, but because 405nm also activates OPN4, the full melanopic EDI at 8″ in Lux Vital is ~23,000 lux-equivalent. This is roughly the circadian drive of standing in open shade outdoors. Daytime light (and darkness in the evenings!) is the key driver of quality sleep at night, this is the opsin that matters most in the context of sleep.

• 935nm and 1050nm access what's called the second optical window. This is a wavelength range where photons travel more directly through tissue. A 2022 study showed 1064 nm transcranial photobiomodulation enhanced working memory, and that the same effect was absent at 852nm. This is strong evidence this range accesses a distinct biological pathway.
  

Midday: UVB Arrives

Only when the sun is high in the sky does UVB reach the ground in useful amounts. It's the shortest wavelength that makes it past the ozone layer, and it does one specific job: it turns a cholesterol precursor in our skin into vitamin D.

Mode 3: D-Light (black button). 10 watts. One wavelength: 297nm narrowband UVB. 297nm is the exact peak of the vitamin D action spectrum.

At 8″ the Trinity delivers ~0.7 mW/cm² of UVB. Significantly more than midday sunlight, but well within established safety ranges. Clinical narrowband UVB phototherapy booths run at 5-10 mW/cm² for entire sessions multiple times weekly for months. The Trinity is 7-14× less intense than clinical equipment, with timer controls in 30 second increments up to 300 seconds allowing more measured exposure. Hearn et al. (2008) followed 3,867 NB-UVB patients across 24,753 person-years found no significant association with skin cancer at doses far above anything Trinity would deliver when used as directed.

About 40-50% of US adults are vitamin D deficient, almost entirely because indoor life provides zero UVB. D-Light mode reintroduces that band of the solar spectrum.

Comparing the Trinity to Midday Sunlight

A quick note on how to think about these numbers... The Trinity is intended to be moved or swept across the body during a session rather than holding it still over one spot. Any single patch of skin only sees the output for a fraction of the total session time. This is what makes meaningful doses over the whole body possible at intensities that would be too much to hold stationary.  We take sunlight, and compress it down in time.

The multiples of sunlight shown below are instantaneous, that is, what the device delivers in that moment over any area of skin.  These readings were measured with a spectrometer at 8 inches from the faceplate, compared to midday outdoor sun at ground level.

Factor sweeping motions in, and a 10-minute Trinity session delivers roughly 10-40 minutes of midday outdoor UVA per skin point. The range depends on how fast the device is moved. A slower sweep means more exposure per area.

How to Use It

Start small and build. Think of it the same way you'd approach going outdoors in spring after a long indoor winter. Never look or gaze into the device during use.

Ironforge Mode only (getting started): Sweep slowly across target areas (shoulders, back, knees, neck) at 0 to 6 inches off the skin. 2 to 5 minutes total or 30 to 60 seconds each area. This is standard red/NIR photobiomodulation. Familiar territory.

Adding Lux Vital: Start with 1 to 2 minutes of swept exposure across head, torso, and arms. A subtle warming of skin tone over the following days is normal. That's OPN3 signaling melanin production, the same receptor-mediated process that happens in sunlight. It's your photoreceptors working, not damage. Build to 5 to 10+ minutes as your skin adapts.

Adding D-Light: Start at 30 seconds TOTAL, swept evenly over torso and legs (not the face) at a distance of at least 8” off the skin. Build in 30 second increments as your skin adapts day over day. Same logic as gradually increasing outdoor time. Use the included glasses and read the full manual for detailed safety considerations in each mode.

Timing: Midday use (roughly 10am to 2pm) best mirrors the natural solar peak for violet and UVB, and appears to produce the strongest circadian benefits. Morning is also effective. Avoid evening use for the Lux Vital & D-Light modes, you don't want to deliver a daytime signal to your skin's circadian sensors before bed.

Goggles: The Trinity ships with protective eyewear. Wear it. The violet and cyan wavelengths are safe for skin at these doses but should not be stared into directly. Same common-sense guidance that applies to any bright light source, including the sun.

On Tanning & Freckling…

Regular use produces subtle skin darkening in most people. Many of us have absorbed the idea that any tan means DNA damage. The published research suggests that works differently here.

OPN3 in our melanocytes detects violet light and triggers a cascade that increases melanin production. Researchers tried blocking reactive oxygen species with antioxidants to see if it was a damage response, but the melanin response didn't change. The research describes this as a photoreceptor signal rather than a DNA-damage reaction.

The melanin our skin produces deploys into supranuclear caps over cell nuclei. This is pigment organized to shield the underlying DNA, guided by the same opsins that detected the light in the first place.

The effect intensifies in darker skin types. Start conservatively if pigmentation is a concern.

UV Safety in Perspective

385-405nm violet/UVA channels. The closest clinical safety precedent is UVA-1 phototherapy (340-400nm), an established dermatology treatment delivered at up to 130 J/cm² per session in high-dose protocols, with multi-decade patient follow-up. A typical 10min Trinity session delivers ~2 J/cm² UVA per skin point. This is one to two orders of magnitude below clinical UVA-1 per session doses. Start small. Build up gradually as your skin adapts. Listen to your body.

The 55x solar exposure in our 297nm UVB channel sounds high, but in practice delivers only a fraction of clinical booth intensity with timer controlled exposure. Hearn's 24,753 person-years of follow-up data stands behind the safety margin at doses far above anything the Trinity delivers.

This device ships with protective goggles. Please wear them. Even brief exposure to UVB could cause permanent eye damage. This device is NOT intended to be looked at or gazed into.

Eleven Wavelengths. Three Modes. One Spectrum.

The Trinity was built on the idea that our bodies don't expect isolated wavelengths. They respond to a spectrum. Our mitochondria expect red. Our opsins expect violet. Our epidermis expects UVB. And the longer wavelengths always arrive first and alongside the shorter, preconditioning tissue for what comes next.

No device replaces the sun. But to combat the hours we spend indoors, the Trinity delivers the key wavelengths our biology depends on in a way similar to how sunlight has always delivered them.

Eleven wavelengths. Each one exists because our biology has a receptor or substrate for it. Nothing decorative. Nothing wasted.

The Trinity is a general wellness device, not a medical device. We don't make medical claims. What we do is build devices grounded in physics and backed by peer-reviewed research. If you have a specific medical condition or concerns about skin pigmentation, consult your healthcare provider.

References

Barolet D, Boucher A. LED photoprevention: reduced MED response following multiple LED exposures. Lasers in Surgery and Medicine. 2008;40(2):106-112. DOI: 10.1002/lsm.20615.

Buhr ED, Vemaraju S, Diaz N, Lang RA, Van Gelder RN. Neuropsin (OPN5) mediates local light-dependent induction of circadian clock genes and circadian photoentrainment in exposed murine skin. Current Biology. 2019;29(20):3478-3487.e4. DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2019.08.063.

Haltaufderhyde K, Ozdeslik RN, Wicks NL, Najera JA, Oancea E. Opsin expression in human epidermal skin. Photochemistry and Photobiology. 2015;91(1):117-123.

Zhao C, Li D, Kong Y, et al. Transcranial photobiomodulation enhances visual working memory capacity in humans. Science Advances. 2022;8(48):eabq3211. DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abq3211.

MacLaughlin JA, Anderson RR, Holick MF. Spectral character of sunlight modulates photosynthesis of previtamin D3 and its photoisomers in human skin. Science. 1982;216(4549):1001-1003.

Elmets CA, Lim HW, Stoff B, et al. Joint American Academy of Dermatology–National Psoriasis Foundation guidelines of care for the management and treatment of psoriasis with phototherapy. Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology. 2019;81(3):775-804.

Hearn RM, Kerr AC, Rahim KF, Ferguson J, Dawe RS. Incidence of skin cancers in 3867 patients treated with narrow-band ultraviolet B phototherapy. British Journal of Dermatology. 2008;159(5):931-935. DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2133.2008.08776.x.

Forrest KYZ, Stuhldreher WL. Prevalence and correlates of vitamin D deficiency in US adults. Nutrition Research. 2011;31(1):48-54.

Regazzetti C, Sormani L, Debayle D, et al. Melanocytes sense blue light and regulate pigmentation through Opsin-3. Journal of Investigative Dermatology. 2018;138(1):171-178. DOI: 10.1016/j.jid.2017.07.833.

Lan Y, Zeng W, Wang Y, et al. Opsin 3 mediates UVA-induced keratinocyte supranuclear melanin cap formation. Communications Biology. 2023;6:238. DOI: 10.1038/s42003-023-04621-8.

York NR, Jacobe HT. UVA1 phototherapy: a review of mechanism and therapeutic application. International Journal of Dermatology. 2010;49(6):623-630.

Zhang KX, D'Souza S, Upton BA, et al. Violet-light suppression of thermogenesis by opsin 5 hypothalamic neurons. Nature. 2020;585:420-425. DOI: 10.1038/s41586-020-2683-0.

Hayano S, et al. Violet light modulates the central nervous system to regulate memory and mood. Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science. 2023. (Violet light via OPN5 improves memory in aged mice and depressive-like behavior in social-defeat stress model.)

Jiang X, Pardue MT, Mori K, et al. Violet light suppresses lens-induced myopia via neuropsin (OPN5) in mice. PNAS. 2021;118(22):e2018840118. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2018840118.

Buscone S, Mardaryev AN, Raafs B, et al. A new path in defining light parameters for hair growth: Discovery and modulation of photoreceptors in human hair follicle. Experimental Dermatology. 2017;26(8):691-700. DOI: 10.1111/exd.13261.

Nayak G, Zhang KX, Vemaraju S, et al. Adaptive thermogenesis in mice is enhanced by opsin 3-dependent adipocyte light sensing. Cell Reports. 2020;30(3):672-686.e8. DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2019.12.043.

Wang Y, et al. Hypothalamic opsin 3 suppresses MC4R signaling and potentiates Kir7.1 to promote food consumption. PNAS. 2025. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2403891122.