Refers to fluorescent lamps that start instantly - without pre-heating of cathodes, and without the need of starters. "Instant Start" lamps have coiled hot cathodes in contrast to &a [..]

A fluorescent system, which does not require starters and usually requires 1 to 2 seconds to start. Current flows continuously through the electrodes keeping them hot and electron emissive.

Current that changes its direction of flow through a conductor, going first one way, then the other. The usual rate used is 60 alternations (60 times each way) per second. AMPERE (AMP):

A quartz tube in which a current traverses a gas between two electrodes.

An inert (will not unite with any other elements to form chemical compounds) gas used in incandescent and fluorescent lamps. In incandescent lamps it helps to retard evaporation of tungsten filament.

A part of every fluorescent lamp fixture. It is a circuit that controls the rate of flow of electrical current through a fluorescent lamp. Also used for mercury vapor, sodium vapor and other HID sourc [..]

A measurement of beam intensity from reflector lamps as opposed to overall lumens of non-reflector lamps.

A theoretical body used by the lighting industry as a standard for establishing the "color" and spectral qualities of lamps. A perfect blackbody, when its temperature has risen to 35 [..]

The darkening of an incandescent lamp caused by small particles of tungsten that evaporate from the filament and deposit on the bulb as the filament burns.

Candlepower is a measurement of light intensity. It is used as a measurement of beam intensity at various angles from reflector lamps or fixtures.