Lamps
Cold-cathode lamps include cold-cathode fluorescent lamps (CCFLs) and neon lamps. Neon lamps primarily rely on excitation of gas molecules to emit light; CCFLs use a discharge in mercury vapor to develop ultraviolet light, which in turn causes a fluorescent coating on the inside of the lamp to emit visible light.
Cold-cathode lamps are used for backlighting of LCD displays, for example computer monitors and television screens.
In the lighting industry, “cold cathode” historically refers to luminous tubing which is larger than 20mm in diameter and operates on a current of 120 to 240 milliamps. This larger diameter tubing is often used for interior alcove and general lighting. The term "neon lamp" refers to tubing that is smaller than 15 mm diameter and typically operates at approximately 40 milliamps. These lamps are commonly used for neon signs.
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Famous quotes containing the word lamps:
“My sweetest Lesbia let us live and love,
And though the sager sort our deeds reprove,
Let us not weigh them: Heav’n’s great lamps do dive
Into their west, and straight again revive,
But soon as once set is our little light,
Then must we sleep one ever-during night.”
—Catullus [Gaius Valerius Catullus] (84–54 B.C.)
“You are to the Nineties what lava lamps were to the Seventies.”
—Robert Altman, U.S. director, screenwriter, and Barbara Shulgasser. Cort Romney (Richard E. Grant)
“How soon country people forget. When they fall in love with a city it is forever, and it is like forever. As though there never was a time when they didn’t love it. The minute they arrive at the train station or get off the ferry and glimpse the wide streets and the wasteful lamps lighting them, they know they are born for it. There, in a city, they are not so much new as themselves: their stronger, riskier selves.”
—Toni Morrison (b. 1931)