Clever technology for bright people

High luminous efficacy, long life, good color rendering and impressive economy are the critical benefits of High Intensity Discharge lamps. As a result, more and more new areas of application keep opening up for these lamps. Their light is produced in the smallest of spaces. High Intensity Discharge lamps can be compared more or less with point light sources. This has many positive effects in terms of the directability and brilliance of the light. As one of the innovators in the lighting industry, OSRAM recognized the potential of High Intensity Discharge lamps at an early stage and has consistently improved the technology.

Light is produced in a discharge lamp by a gas discharge that occurs in an arc tube between two electrodes after ignition. Electrical conductivity is established by ionized filler components. The electrodes are fed into a completely sealed discharge vessel.

During gas discharge the additives (metal halides) and the mercury are excited by the current flow and emit the excitation energy in the form of their characteristic radiation. The mixture of different radiation components produces the desired color temperature and color rendering properties. The mercury is completely vaporized in the operating state.

OSRAM uses this principle with different metals and filler materials to create different types of lamp. These include metal halide lamps, sodium lamps and mercury vapor lamps. Most discharge lamps require control gear to ignite them and limit their current.