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The OSRAM PLANON lamp: a flat, dimmable, mercury-free discharge light source with exceptional performance

The OSRAM PLANON^® lamp is a flat, dimmable, mercury-free discharge light source with exceptionally uniform, high luminance output. With its unique shape and operating characteristics, PLANON applications extend well beyond that of backlighting liquid crystal display (LCD) modules and seek out unconventional new configurations and applications. In addition, the PLANON lamp allows for the improvement of existing systems with regard to luminance and service life.

The new OSRAM PLANON source generates light using a xenon excimer discharge. A suitable voltage is applied to the electrode system of a PLANON discharge lamp, exciting xenon gas in the lamp cavity. When the excimers decay, short-wave ultraviolet radiation is generated, and is then converted into visible light by a phosphor coating. A high efficacy of ultraviolet photon formation is achieved by adding an electrically insulating barrier over the electrodes and creating special voltage input patterns.

The OSRAM PLANON lamp is an innovative light source capable of displaying high quality bright pictures with wide viewing and illumination angles and constant luminance from center to edge. With an extremely long lamp life of up to 100,000 hours, the extraordinarily flat (less than 10mm) PLANON lamp is mercury-free, thereby eliminating warm-up time and allowing output that is virtually independent of ambient temperature.

"With specific advantages including high luminance, independence from ambient temperature, and long life, the PLANON is the ideal backlight for innovative industrial and commercial applications. The PLANON lamp system joins the list of OSRAM SYLVANIA's innovative system solutions," says Karen Lee, project manager in the business development group of OSRAM SYLVANIA's Photo-Optic division.