LATEST IN LIGHTING

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 19892, 21 March 1939, Page 14

LATEST IN LIGHTING

INTERIOR ILLUMINATOH

USE IN REGENT THEATRE

Work is now in progress at the Regent Theatre in installing the latest system of lighting, and within a few weeks this will be completed and will give Gisborne people an opportunity of seeing this new lighting in one of the first buildings to be treated in Australia and New Zealand.

It-is. only during comparatively recent days that developments have enabled Neon tubes to be used for interior lighting.

Neon was introduced to New Zealand only a little over nine years ago and until this year, the different colours which have been seen have been the result of filtering the light through coloured glass rather than through the use of different gases in the tubes; in fact, only two gases, one Neon emitting a red light and the other a mixture of mercury vapour and argon, which has been responsible for all the blues and greens, have been used to any extent. Helium has been employed on remote occasions, but is by no mea'.is commonly used. The two gases produce a bright orange red light and a light blue, but by the use of coloured glass various shades have been produced for sign work. The filtering of the light through coloured glass, of course, resulted in tremendous loss of efficiency in light output and it was not until a few years ago that attempts were made to overcome this failing.

Ultra-Violet Rays Used

The process employed so successfully in the new tubes which are used for interior lighting is based on the conversion of ultra-violet rays. which are invisible to ..the eye, into visible rays, thereby increasing the light output from the tube without varying the amount of current consumed.

The first attempt to produce a tube which would give this result was made by the German people some years ago in their Lumophor glass tubing. In producing this material. they employed the use of fluorescent crystals placed between two walls of class, which had the effect of converting the ultra-violet rays in the cases used, into visible rays. Unfortunately, great loss of efficiency still occurred through the absorption of light by the glass encasing the fluorescent crystals, and further experiments were carried otit until a French company was finally successful in developing a tube which was coated on the inside with fluorescent crystals, which . allowed the fas to come into direct contact with it and therefore give a light output of maximum efficiency. Introduction into New Zealand Although 'these tubes have been used for a year or two in Europe, it has been only within comparatively recent days that the processes have been acquired for use in America and other parts of the world, including Australia and New Zealand. The introduction of these new tubes into New Zealand took place less than 12 months ago, and New Zealand will be one of the first countries, if not the first, in the Southern Hemisphere to complete a lighting installation by the use of this material. The Regent Theahv in Gisborne will be among the first buildings in New Zealand to have this new lighting system installed. The work will involve the use of 2000 ft. of glass tubing, most of which will be con cealed in features already existing in the theatre. Not only has this new system overcome the loss of light output due to filtering the light through coloured glnss, but it has also provided a much wider range of colours for both interior and exterior work. The colours are also of a pastel shade, which has not previously been possible in this country.