  Deep $B$ and $R$ images of three Hickson Compact Groups, HCG 79, HCG 88 and
HCG 95, were analyzed using a new wavelet technic to measure possible
intra-group diffuse light present in these systems. The method used, OV\_WAV,
is a wavelet technic particularly suitable to detect low-surface brightness
extended structures, down to a $S/N = 0.1$ per pixel, which corresponds to a
5-$\sigma$-detection level in wavelet space. The three groups studied are in
different evolutionary stages, as can be judged by their very different
fractions of the total light contained in their intra-group halos: $46\pm11$%
for HCG 79 and $11\pm26$% for HCG 95, in the $B$ band, and HCG 88 had no
component detected down to a limiting surface brightness of $29.1 B mag
arcsec^{-2}$. For HCG 95 the intra-group light is red, similar to the mean
colors of the group galaxies themselves, suggesting that it is formed by an old
population with no significant on-going star formation. For HCG 79, however,
the intra-group material has significantly bluer color than the mean color of
the group galaxies, suggesting that the diffuse light may, at least in part,
come from stripping of dwarf galaxies which dissolved into the group potential
well.
