Lighting Terminology

DoobsDay

Well-Known Member

For those who dont understand
lighting terms, hope this clears things up...:peace:
Ballast:
A power source for HID or fluorescent products that provides starting voltage and regulates the operating current.
CRI (Color
Rendering Index):

A rating system that indicates how colors appear under a given light source (lamp) on a scale of 100.The higher the CRI number, the more accurately the object’s color will be represented. The lower the CRI number, the less accurately it will be represented.
Volts:
The level of electric pressure in the system. Note: Please verify the voltage for your specific application prior to ordering lighting fixtures.
Fluorescent Lamp:
A low-pressure electric-discharge lamp where the electric discharge generates light. It requires a ballast to operate and provides great energy efficiency and good CRI.

HID Lamp:
(High Intensity Discharge) An electric-discharge lamp in which light is produced under high pressure. It requires a ballast to operate. Metal halide (MH) and high pressure sodium (HPS) are two common types of HID lamps.
High Pressure
Sodium (HPS) Lamp

A high-intensity-discharge lamp in which light is produced through the energizing of sodium vapor in a pressurized arc chamber. It requires a ballast to operate and produces a yellow/orange light with very good lamp life and poor CRI.
Metal Halide (MH)
Lamp:

A high-intensity-discharge lamp in which light is produced through the energizing of metal halides in a pressurized arc chamber. It requires a ballast to operate and produces a white light with good lamp life and good CRI.
Lamp:
An output device that converts electric energy into light.
Lamp Life:
A rating that is based on the assumption that 50 percent of the lamps, on average, are expected to remain burning at the number of hours indicated.

Lamp Output:
The amount of light expressed in lumens that a lamp source produces. All lamp-lumen data are based on initial lamp lumens.
Light Color:
A measurement in Kelvin (K). Light sources with a lower Kelvin temperature (2000-3000K) exhibit more light in the red/orange/yellow range. The higher Kelvin temperatures (>5000K) will exhibit more blue light. Fluorescent (2700K), quartz halogen (2800K) and metal halide (4000K) lamps produce an impression of "white" light.
Examples:

1500K Candlelight
2100K High pressure sodium lamp
2700K General-purpose incandescent lamp
2700K Fluorescent lamp
2800K Quartz halogen lamp
4000K Metal halide lamp

Lumen:
A unit of measurement of light emitting from a lamp or light fixture.

Watt:
A measurement of power consumption.

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