A
Application
The use to which a lighting system will be put; for example, a lamp may be intended for indoor residential applications.


Average Rated Life
The number of hours at which half of a large group of product samples fail under standard test conditions. Rated life is a median value; any lamp or group of lamps may vary from the published rated life.

B
LED Beam Angle
The angle at which luminous intensity is 50 percent of the maximum intensity.

C
Color Rendering Index (CRI)
A rating index commonly used to represent how well a light source renders the colors of objects that it illuminates. For a CRI value of 100, the maximum value, the colors of objects can be expected to be seen as they would appear under an incandescent or daylight spectrum of the same correlated color temperature (CCT). Sources with CRI values less than 50 are generally regarded as rendering colors poorly, that is, colors may appear unnatural.


Compact Fluorescent Lamp (CFL)
A family of single-ended fluorescent-discharge light sources.


Correlated Color Temperature (CCT)
A specification for white light sources used to describe the dominant color tone along the dimension from warm (yellows and reds) to cool (blue). Lamps with a CCT rating below 3200 K are usually considered warm sources, whereas those with a CCT above 4000 K usually considered cool in appearance. Temperatures in between are considered neutral in appearance. Technically, CCT extends the practice of using temperature, in kelvins (K), for specifying the spectrum of light sources other than blackbody radiators.


Current (C)
An electric current is a flow of electric charge. In electric circuits this charge is often carried by moving electrons in a wire. It can also be carried by ions in an electrolyte, or by both ions and electrons such as in a plasma.

D
Driver
For light emitting diodes, a device that regulates the voltage and current powering the source.

E
LED Efficacy
The ratio of light output (in lumens) to LED power (in watts).

F
Fixture
A complete lighting unit consisting of lamp or lamps and the parts designed to distribute the light, position and protect the lamp(s), and connect the lamp(s) to the power supply. (Also referred to as luminaire.)

Frequency (Hz)
The number of cycles completed by a periodic wave in a given unit of time. Frequency is commonly reported in cycles per second, or hertz (Hz).

K
Kelvin Color Temperature
A measure of the color of a light source relative to a black body at a particular temperature expressed in degrees Kelvin (K). Incandescent lights have a low color temperature (approximately 2800K) and have a red-yellowish tone; daylight has a high color temperature (approximately 6000K) and appears bluish (the most popular fluorescent light, Cool White, is rated at 4100K). Today, the phosphors used in fluorescent lamps can be blended to provide any desired color temperature in the range from 2800K to 6000K. Lamps with color temperatures below 5000K tend to be more yellow/red, lamps rated between 5000 and 6000K are viewed as white, while lamps above 6000K tend to have a blue cast.

L
Lamp/Luminaire Efficacy
The ratio of the light output of a lamp (lumens) to its active power (watts), expressed as lumens per watt (LPW).

Light Emitting Diode (LED)
A solid-state electronic device formed by a junction of P-and N-type semiconductor material that emits light when electric current passes through it. LED commonly refers to either the semiconductor by itself, i.e. the chip, or the entire lamp package including the chip, electrical leads, optics and encasement.

Lumen (lm)
A unit measurement of the rate at which a lamp produces light. A lamp's light output rating expresses the total amount of light emitted in all directions per unit time. Ratings of initial light output provided by manufacturers express the total light output after 100 hours of operation.

Luminaire
A complete lighting unit consisting of a lamp or lamps and the parts designed to distribute the light, to position and protect the lamp(s), and to connect the lamp(s) to the power supply. (Also referred to as fixture.)

Lux (lx)
A measure of illuminance in lumens per square meter. One lux equals 0.093 footcandle.

P
Power Factor (PF)
The ratio of active power (in watts) to apparent power (in rms volt-amperes), power factor is a measure of how effectively an electric load converts power into useful work. Power factor (PF) is calculated using the equation PF = (active power) / [(rms voltage) x (rms current)]. Phase displacement and current distortion both reduce power factor. A power factor of 0.9 or greater indicates a high power factor ballast.

R
Rated Lamp Life
The number of hours at which half of a group of product samples fail. The rated life is a median value of life expectancy; any lamp or group of lamps may vary from the published rated life. Rated life is based on standard test conditions.

T
Total Harmonic Distortion (THD)
A measure of the degree to which a sinusoidal wave shape is distorted by harmonics, with higher values of THD indicating greater distortion.

U
Uniformity
The degree of variation of illuminance over a given plane. Greater uniformity means less variation of illuminance. The uniformity ratio of illuminance is a measure of that variation expressed as either the ratio of the minimum to the maximum illuminance or the ratio of the minimum to the average illuminance.

V
Voltage (V)
The degree of variation of illuminance over a given plane. Greater uniformity means less variation of illuminance. The uniformity ratio of illuminance is a measure of that variation expressed as either the ratio of the minimum to the maximum illuminance or the ratio of the minimum to the average illuminance.

W
Watts (W)
The unit for measuring electrical power. It defines the rate of energy consumption by an electrical device when it is in operation. The energy cost of operating an electrical device is calculated as its wattage times the hours of use. In single phase circuits, it is related to volts and amps by the formula: Volts x Amps x Power Factor = Watts.