Metal halide lamps have
applications ranging far beyond the limits of
general lighting, and over the past few decades
this technology has been adapted into numerous
other formats to suit the specific requirements of
certain special niches.
One of the principal fields to
embrace this lamp technology is the film and
studio business, where very large amounts of high
colour temperature light are required.
Traditionally that light was provided on film sets
by the carbon arc lamp until the 1970s, when short
arc metal halide lamps began to take over.
They offer higher luminous efficacy, improved
colour rendering and longer lifetime than the
carbon arc lamp. In recent years the metal
halide lamp has also been adapted to vehicle
lighting, and a new family of ultra compact lamp
has been developed to suit that
requirement.
New halide chemistries based on
the rare earths were developed to mimic natural
daylight as closely as possible, and arc tube
developments were explored in both single and
double ended designs. A number of lamps
having integrated optical control have also been
developed over the years, and also featured on
this page are types having special arc tube
chemistries, for instance to suit certain
ultraviolet applications in the photoprinting and
photopolymerisation
businesses.
