Myths are intriguing - we love to believe them, and even feel disappointed to discover what we held as true is actually a tall tale. The lighting market is no stranger to these intricate tales. Many people still hear the word fluorescent and think of unhealthy lighting that flickers and hums; some think dimming incandescent lights by 50 percent will automatically cut their lighting bill in half. Like many myths, these have lived far beyond their lifetime. Early mercury vapour lamps promised long life and higher efficacies, but the ramifications of their "quality of light" was not well understood. These too were installed in applications with mythical hopes, but people later came to find that poor colour rendering and colour shift did matter and that lumen depreciation was acceptable only within certain limits. Today we still find mercury vapour lamps in use, but these early beauties have been relegated primarily to outdoor lighting. While the lighting market has evolved, offering ever more efficient lighting solutions, even today we see fabrication and confusion surrounding new lighting technology. Solid-state lighting is perhaps one of the least understood technologies and as such it is fodder for myths and misunderstanding regarding their lifetime, quality and quantity of light. In many cases, the myths are simply a result of applying an outdated paradigm - the light bulb - to a technology that is entirely different. Here we take a look at some of the most common myths surrounding LEDs, and the way perceptions are changing with increasing pace...
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