Lighting fine art can present a museum or gallery curator with a major problem: how can you brightly light a painting or sculpture, render the colors accurately, and not damage the art with warm light? Curators in Mexico City faced this problem when they needed to select a light source for one of the greatest murals of all time by one of the all time great muralists, “Dreaming of a Sunday in Alameda Park,” by Diego Rivera. The curators ultimately decided on PAR38 LED lamps to illuminate the 16m long mural. LED lamps are ideal for lighting art work for multiple reasons. The first and most important is that they give off no heat, which could damage an aged canvas or delicate statue. Secondly, LEDs are naturally directional which is ideal if you are lighting an individual object that requires a large amount of light being concentrated upon it. Lastly, LEDs are long lasting and extremely efficient: with a life hour rating typically between 50,000hrs and 100,000hrs, any museum or gallery will appreciate the low maintenance and energy savings of LED bulbs. LED lamps with very good CRI are now available, making it a realistic option for illuminating an object with vibrant color. The curators most likely chose and LED flood because the mural was large (16m X 5m). But, for smaller pieces of art there are other good options, and not solely LED options.
MR16s, in addition to LED lamps, are often ideal for illuminating smaller pieces of art. Most MR16s feature “cool beams” which simply means that the heat generated by the lamp’s halogen light source is funneled out of the bulb, thus cooling the reflector and cooling the light produced. MR16s feature directional light with sharp edges which make it a great choice for general display and even accent lighting. LED MR16s, the best of both worlds, also exist. Silver and Ushio offer 4w to 5w MR16s with standard GU5.3 bases to guarantee that if you plan to retrofit your standard MR16s with LED MR16s, you would likely to be able to do so with no problem.
LEDs are revolutionizing the way art is illuminated. One should expect to see more and more of the world’s greatest pieces of are under the light of LEDs. Whether you are illuminating a hundred year old portrait or simply a photograph of your dog, you want a bulb that will be true to what is in the frame. LEDs are the bulb for the job. BulbAmerica has many LED options to choose from, check out all of our options right now!
To a person who has never seen or worked with a high intensity discharge (HID) gas lamp before, he or she might not at first realize that what they were looking at is even a light bulb. Most people when they think of a light bulb picture the classic A-shaped incandescent and picture the filament sitting within the glass envelope above the base. Low pressure and high pressure sodium light bulbs and xenon short arc bulbs, in particular, can understandably confuse customers. With their strange shapes, lack of conventional filament, and the uncharacteristic features within the bulb’s atmosphere, it is no surprise why some people are scratching their heads over these light sources. This article will attempt to clarify some of these concerns and conundrums and familiarize readers with HID gas discharge lamps.
It may first be helpful to briefly review how a HID gas lamp works. Let’s take a xenon short arc lamp as an example. In a xenon short arc lamp, a ballast will supply the initial electrical current or pulse and ionize the lamp and vaporize the solid material inside, provided there is any. Electrical current will travel through a conductor and eventually form an electrical field inside the bulb’s quartz envelope via the cathode. A xenon short arc lamp, and all HIDs for that matter, does not reach full brightness instantaneously because the gas must become sufficiently excited by the electrical current and release sufficient electrons to produce large amounts of light. The light forms in a small arc between the cathode and the anode at the center of the quartz envelope, and hence ‘short arc’. Here we have the answer to the question, ‘where is the filament?’ The answer is there is none in any conventional sense because a HID bulb does not produce light in the same way an incandescent bulb does.
Sometimes customers are also concerned by the state in which their HID lamp arrives in. Before we tackle this set of issues, you should remember two things about gas discharge lamps. First, gas discharge lamps are filled with a type of gas depending on what type of lamp it is (xenon, argon, neon, or krypton) and often additional materials such as sodium (i.e. low/high pressure sodium bulbs), mercury, or metal halides. Second, as stated before, gas discharge bulbs take a few minutes to reach full luminosity. Now, with these two considerations in mind we will move on to customer concerns. One common concern among customers is that when a customer receives his or her gas discharge lamp, particularly high pressure or low pressure sodium lamps, there is a loose solid metal substance rolling around in the glass envelope. This is not a defect of the lamp, and in fact it is how they should come. Before the sodium in a sodium vapor lamp is vaporized, it is in a solid metallic state, this is what you are seeing. Another common concern, particularly pertaining to xenon short arc bulbs, is that upon their arrival the quartz envelope is blackened, leading customers to understandably think that the bulb arrived burned out! This is not the case, what has happened is that when the bulb was tested it was not left in operation long enough to reach full brightness, the blackening results from this. There is also a chance that the blackening resulted from a faulty ballast or related issue, however the blackening does not indicate the bulb has burned out like it does for an incandescent bulb. A xenon short arc bulb that has reached the end of its life will have its envelope bulged out in one direction and will actually be all white inside.
As the adage goes, ‘know your enemy,’ and although light bulbs should never be your enemy, sometimes it can feel like they are. So before you receive your HID lamp, make sure you read up on it and know what to expect when you take it out of the box. As always, comment on the blog or call BulbAmerica at 1888-505-2111 for any questions concerning your light bulb or lighting needs.
PAR cans are a vital fixture for not only stage lighting, but architectural lighting as well. The typical PAR can design however with its large barrel is not the most attractive and thus not really suitable for architectural applications. American DJ’s Opti PAR seriesPAR cans do not look like traditional PAR cans. Though architectural lighting is not their only applications, their attractive case...
Compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbsare becoming increasingly popular and are showing up in fixtures in more and more places. Many people, however, are still suspicious of the new technology, associating the light of fluorescent bulbs with an extremely cool and sterile white light. A group of researchers in New Zealand went out in the field to test this myth and figure out once and for all...
One of the most troublesome and nagging questions in all of stage lighting surrounds the question of whether you can substitute XLR cables for DMX cables. Go to any DJ, stage lighting or church production online forum and I assure you that the DMX vs. XLR question is among the longest threads. One of the readers of our MerchantCircle blogvoiced his own confusion regarding this issue and made me...
The search for a wash luminaire that is both energy efficient and produces flat and even light can be difficult. The search is over. Optima’s Coloray Wash fixtures are the latest in LED wash technologies. They feature a 25˚ beam angle and 12 radiant LED bulbs, each rated at 1w/bulb. This means that the Coloray Wash uses a meager 15w (12w total for LEDs plus additional wattage) to illuminate an entire wall with brilliant color. The Coloray Wash features an adjustable yoke which means that you have plenty of options regarding how and where you decide to mount your Coloray and which wall you will bathe in light. This flexibility makes the Coloray perfect for many environments including stages, restaurants, retail displays, bars, and many, many more. Once you mount your Coloray Wash luminaire, you won’t have to worry about it for some time. With a life hour rating of 100,000hrs and solid construction means that the Coloray will be lighting up for a long time.
The Coloray, if operated in stand alone mode, can be operated by any DMX controller or by the Coloray Drive 65 Driver included. The Drive 65 is an excellent piece of equipment that can easily control the 25 built-in effects. The Driver is also outfitted with an easy to read LED display and easy to use buttons to allow you to effortlessly operate your Coloray luminaires without a DMX controller. Furthermore, the speed and intensity of the light can be adjusted using a built nob, making the Coloray ideal for retail or other applications where one would likely not have a DMX control.
The Coloray Wash and Coloray driver together form an excellent LED wall-wash system for nearly all environments. The Coloray LED system is easy to set up and nearly easier to use, get yours today and add the color to your space and marvel at the difference it makes. Check it out today!
Germicidal lamps are an essential lighting tool for environments that are required to be bacteria free. Germicidal, or sterilization, lampsare used in many environments including hospitals, aquariums, water treatment facilities, laboratories, and in food-service areas. Sterilization lamps produce non-visible short-wave ultra-violet (UV) light which breaks up bacteria and disinfects the air, water,...
Lasers are one of the most exciting and attractive lighting effects. There is no sight like a vibrant, sharp laser cutting through fog or creating a beautiful star-field pattern on the dance floor. Even better, most lasers are now small enough, and light enough, to be carried easily by a DJ on-the-go, ensuring that his or performance will be an unforgettable one. But which laserto choose? In this...
Continuous lighting in a photography studio can make or break the photos being taken there. Therefore, the choice of light the photographer makes is essential to his or her photos, and will strongly influence the way they come out. ‘Hot’ lights, or incandescent or lights using a tungsten filaments and some other high intensity discharge (HID)light sources have long been the industry standard for...
There are numerous types of high intensity discharge (HID) light sources available, all of which have different strengths and weaknesses. Light bulb manufacturers have long been pursuing a bulb in which these different types of HID sources can be combined to produce a light bulb that has an excellent life hour rating and great color rendering. Ushio has accomplished this feat with their EmArc...
Lighting fine art can present a museum or gallery curator with a major problem: how can you brightly light a painting or sculpture, render the colors accurately, and not damage the art with warm light? Curators in Mexico City faced this problem when they needed to select a light source for one of the greatest murals of all time by one of the all time great muralists, “Dreaming of a Sunday in Alameda Park,” by Diego Rivera. The curators ultimately decided on PAR38 LED lamps to illuminate the 16m long mural. LED lamps are ideal for lighting art work for multiple reasons. The first and most important is that they give off no heat, which could damage an aged canvas or delicate statue. Secondly, LEDs are naturally directional which is ideal if you are lighting an individual object that requires a large amount of light being concentrated upon it. Lastly, LEDs are long lasting and extremely efficient: with a life hour rating typically between 50,000hrs and 100,000hrs, any museum or gallery will appreciate the low maintenance and energy savings of LED bulbs. LED lamps with very good CRI are now available, making it a realistic option for illuminating an object with vibrant color. The curators most likely chose and LED flood because the mural was large (16m X 5m). But, for smaller pieces of art there are other good options, and not solely LED options. 
Subscribe to our feed
'%3e%3cg id='Final-Copy-2_2_' transform='translate(1275.000000, 200.000000)'%3e%3cpath class='st0' d='M7.4,12.8h6.8l3.1-11.6H7.4C4.2,1.2,1.6,3.8,1.6,7S4.2,12.8,7.4,12.8z'/%3e%3c/g%3e%3c/g%3e%3c/g%3e%3cg id='final---dec.11-2020'%3e%3cg id='_x30_208-our-toggle' transform='translate(-1275.000000, -200.000000)'%3e%3cg id='Final-Copy-2' transform='translate(1275.000000, 200.000000)'%3e%3cpath class='st1' d='M22.6,0H7.4c-3.9,0-7,3.1-7,7s3.1,7,7,7h15.2c3.9,0,7-3.1,7-7S26.4,0,22.6,0z M1.6,7c0-3.2,2.6-5.8,5.8-5.8 h9.9l-3.1,11.6H7.4C4.2,12.8,1.6,10.2,1.6,7z'/%3e%3cpath id='x' class='st2' d='M24.6,4c0.2,0.2,0.2,0.6,0,0.8l0,0L22.5,7l2.2,2.2c0.2,0.2,0.2,0.6,0,0.8c-0.2,0.2-0.6,0.2-0.8,0 l0,0l-2.2-2.2L19.5,10c-0.2,0.2-0.6,0.2-0.8,0c-0.2-0.2-0.2-0.6,0-0.8l0,0L20.8,7l-2.2-2.2c-0.2-0.2-0.2-0.6,0-0.8 c0.2-0.2,0.6-0.2,0.8,0l0,0l2.2,2.2L23.8,4C24,3.8,24.4,3.8,24.6,4z'/%3e%3cpath id='y' class='st3' d='M12.7,4.1c0.2,0.2,0.3,0.6,0.1,0.8l0,0L8.6,9.8C8.5,9.9,8.4,10,8.3,10c-0.2,0.1-0.5,0.1-0.7-0.1l0,0 L5.4,7.7c-0.2-0.2-0.2-0.6,0-0.8c0.2-0.2,0.6-0.2,0.8,0l0,0L8,8.6l3.8-4.5C12,3.9,12.4,3.9,12.7,4.1z'/%3e%3c/g%3e%3c/g%3e%3c/g%3e%3c/g%3e%3c/svg%3e)
Your Privacy Choices
Stay in Touch