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Lighting and LED - Jan 2009
Designing a sign – remember to think about the effect illumination can have
Thursday, 01 January 2009 00:00
It may sound obvious but the whole purpose of a sign is to be easily seen. How many times have you gone into a building and got lost due to poor signage? It’s not only the position and style of the sign that you need to consider, but also how the sign will be illuminated.
So what do you need to consider when selecting a light source for your sign? The objective of illumination is to highlight a sign against the general background clutter, encouraging the eye to focus naturally to the signage. Before starting to design the sign you need to decide how you are going to get electrical power to the area and what restrictions there may be. You may discuss with your customer general ascetics, brightness levels and what staff are available to maintain the sign. You will then be able to supply a quotation that gives them information on running costs and longevity of the light.
Lighting is normally measured in lux (a unit of measurement) and refers to the brightness to a set area in relation to the beam spread. For example, if the spread of 2000 lux illuminates a square metre set at two metres from the source then the measured lux level could be 1000 lux, if you take the same measurement over four metres it is likely to be 250 lux.
The choice of light sources seems endless, including fluorescent tubes, Dichroic lamps, LED strips and individual extra bright LEDs, as well as new light sources continually coming on to the market. In this article I consider illumination in the context of a sign rather than a light box.
For years fluorescent tubes have been used as an economical way of illuminating signs from above. The tubes are normally positioned just above the sign and give out a stark light that appears lifeless and may have a yellow tinge. Fluorescent tubes give a whitewash effect that is functional but not eye catching or attractive.
A more natural white light can be achieved by using SAD (seasonal affective disorder) lighting, which gives a very white light. Remember, when specifying a specialist tube your customer must be able to get hold of replacements easily.
LED strips or individual extra bright LEDs are the current hot topic to use for lighting but be careful, you must really think about what you want to achieve with this type of lighting. It has an attractive visual appeal and does have a great strength of light but it is does not transfer the light to the surrounding area. LEDs are excellent for short range lighting e.g. panel edging or for creating special effects and creating a shine.
The subtlety of lighting signs is a careful balance of illuminating signage but without spilling light into unwanted areas.
Dichroic are directional and you have much more control of light and are excellent for illuminating all types of signs. They enable you to create feature lighting using standard white lamps or transform the appearance of a sign by using a mixture of colour lamps. For brightness and economy dichroics are still excellent value especially when you use lamps that can have up to 10,000hrs of lamp life.
A sign suspended in the window with dichroic lamps positioned above suspended cables allows the lighting to be positioned in the correct place to give the best possible results. Consider what type of light spread do you want to achieve? Is the light to just illuminate 500mm high x 600 mm wide panel or does it need to illuminate a sign that is 2000 mm in height?
The above is an extract. To find out more, book a place on one of Fairfield Displays and Lightings’ free seminars to help signmakers and large format graphics companies use lighting with confidence. The next seminars are on 21 January in Fleet, Hampshire and 28 January 2009 in Shrewsbury, Shropshire. Full details can be found at www.fairfielddisplays.co.uk or telephone 08451 665201.
Large stock of animated LED signs at BHMA
Thursday, 01 January 2009 00:00
BHMA Limited based in Witchford, Cambridgeshire, has been a marketing based company for 17 years.
Patrick Huggins, Director, has trained literally thousands of licensed trade managers in the subject, enabling them to market their businesses professionally.
In the last five years he has focused BHMA on products rather than training, allowing BHMA customers to get their businesses noticed and improve their profit.
Signs that are illuminated, move, are at eye level, are an instant way to get noticed and LED signs fit this criteria perfectly.
A key advantage of LED-based lighting is its high efficiency, as measured by its light output per unit power input. White LEDs have quickly matched and overtook the efficiency of standard incandescent lighting systems, costing much less to operate.
The BHMA range of super bright LED shop signs incorporates the latest developments in LED technology. All signs use 8mm, wide angled, filtered, high colour contrast, anti-glare LEDs for excellent day and night time visibility and offer a lifespan of up to 11 years’ permanent use.
The range is extremely durable, energy efficient (8-18 watts), precision engineered and the slimmest available is an amazing 17mm - less than the diameter of a 1p coin - with superb built in micro-chip controlled, power management systems.
BHMA offers discount to trade customers and has a growing range of animated LED business signs for indoor use currently available from stock.
Telephone 01353 665141 or go to www.bhma.co.uk to view the BHMA range.
LED Solutions announces latest Agilight range
Thursday, 01 January 2009 00:00
LED Solutions has announced the latest range of LEDs that are capable of illuminating a variety of different applications. LED Solutions is currently the UK supplier of American company Agilight’s LED modules. Agilight’s newest Rayz collection includes a Weatherproof LED, High Output White and miniature LED module that can fit into lettering with stroke widths of 25mm.
The Weatherproof LED called Tuffrayz is designed to withstand the most severe weather conditions due to its potted circuitry and fully protective moulded body. The Tuffrayz module also has a streamlined pod-like design, which allows for smooth and easy installation into any signage or lettering. Energy efficiency is also a major addition to the Tuffrayz module as over 100 modules can be powered from just one 60-watt power supply.
The flagship product of the Rayz collection has to be the High Output Thin Rayz Xtra LED, which creates a very high intensity white illumination. This LED module contains four TOPS LED on each module and can produce a light output of 459 Lumens per metre, perfect for creating a bright and clean white illumination that many other LEDs struggle to achieve.
The last, but not least model, within this new range of LED products are called Thin Rayz. These LED modules have proven to be a great asset to LED Solutions because they can fit into the most awkward of lettering with stroke widths of just 25mm. The LED modules also use TOP LEDs and can produce an ultra bright illumination effect whilst generating a minimal amount of heat.
LED Solutions, already pleased with the current influx of new products, is looking forward to expanding its product range in the near future.
For more information visit the website www.ledsolutions.co.uk
Abacus LED makes it simple with chain LED
Thursday, 01 January 2009 00:00
Abacus LED has gained extensive experience as part of the sign industry for more than 30 years, so understands the many frustrations that come with the job and is able to simplify a customer’s LED lighting needs.
The company has just added to its range with new Chain-LED, designed for sign makers to create LED characters or graphics with ease.
Each Chain-LED consists of 15 LEDs encased in a transparent rubber like PVC material, enabling them to fit snugly into panels up to 6mm thick with 9mm holes. The rubber material creates a water tight seal making them suitable for both external and internal use. Chain-LED is waterproof to IP55 and available in six brilliant colours: red, orange, amber, green, blue and white.
The company’s new Supabrite high power LED modules, says Abacus, are the brightest LED in their class.
Providing brilliant white without the coolness, they offer excellent and even distribution of light with no hot spots. Supabrite modules are built to high quality standard, IP68 rated and suitable for many applications internally or externally without additional protection.
An important advantage of Abacus LED modules are their special thermal management technology within the metal case, so heat is dissipated away from the LED. Overheating, which severely shortens the life of an LED, is therefore avoided.
These modules provide super high luminance and are completely waterproofed to IP68. Significantly, they can be fixed directly onto the back of flat cut letters and other surfaces internally or externally and have a profile of just 4mm.
Abacus also supplies a range of LED controllers from 12V-48V; dim controllers for single colour and brightness changes; high-performance RGB controllers with advanced PWM control technology to control entire RGB colour changes of LED lights with 4 wires; 48V animators in RGB, 2, 3, 6, and 10 channels; various power supplies for indoor and outdoor use, and more.
For full details of the Abacus LED range, visit the website www.ledsignsandlighting.co.uk or tel. 0161 236 8828.
Portland Lighting - Affordable LED trough lighting
Thursday, 01 January 2009 00:00
Portland Lighting, a leading manufacturer and supplier of innovative products, successfully launched LEDlux, the first LED trough lighting system for the UK sign industry in spring.
Previously, the difficulty in achieving sufficient light spread evenly over an entire surface without the spotting normally associated with LEDs, had prevented development of successful LED trough lighting at a financially viable cost.
Portland drew on its extensive research and development expertise to overcome these problems and create the exciting and stylish LEDlux at a price affordable to the sign trade.
Ledlux uses high power 3.6 watt LED modules in ‘chip on board’ technology combined with broad 140 degree light distribution and a specialist magnifying extruded lens to achieve bright, uniform lighting. Illumination is comparable to conventional fluorescent trough lighting but operating costs are reduced by more than 50 per cent.
Sealed to IP64, together with IP67 power converters and protective coated LEDs, which have an integrated current source to stabilise luminous flux and outstanding lamp life, Ledlux offers enviable reliability of service and maintenance-free costs. A projected LED life of more than 50,000 hours could mean that fascia signs only half illuminated because fluorescents have not been replaced are a thing of the past. In addition, Ledlux has clear added value in the protection of valuable natural resources.
Portland designed the attractive casing to also house fluorescent lamps. The unique clip-in cover enables easy retro fitting into the signlux system, giving flexibility and the option of utilising a traditional light source or the new LED technology in relighting programmes.
Ledlux joins the Portland family of Microlux, Adlux, the original and ever-popular signlux, and the Bullet spotlight, to provide an unequalled range and choice within the sign industry.
For more information, go to www.portlandlighting.co.uk or telephone 01922 721133.
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