General lighting technology articles

• About Lighting Articles - lighting technology and measurements
• A History of Light and Lighting
• Dichroic Filters FAQ - multi-layer thin-film coatings deposited on a glass substrate used for light filtering
• Don Klipstein's lighting articles - bulbs, fluorescent, gas discharge lamps, LEDs, xenon flash
• Electrocal technical data for low voltage halogen lights
• Frequently asked questions about lighting measurements
• inter.Light - internet source for lighting specifiers, lighting manufacturers by product categories
• Lighting FAQ - what does candela, lumen, inderse square law, cosine law and beam angle mean
• Lighting Fundamentals - lighting upgrade manual from US EPA Office of Air and Radiation
• Lighting Fundamentals - lighting upgrade manual
• Lighting up the web - article about good lighting sites on the net
• Light Measurement Handbook
• Light Pollution Awareness Website
• Primo Lighting Management Glossary
• Publications by Radiant Imaging Personnel - information on lighting measurements
• The Lighting Library - index of lighting related reference documents that you can read online
• The Lighting Resource Articles - wide variety of lighting articles
• Tietoa valaistuksesta - information on lighting in Finnish
• Valaisinten kotelointiluokat ja kไyttไpaikat - information on lighting equipment environmental protection classes in Finnish
• Valaistustekniikka - lighting technology information in Finnish
• Voltage and Lamp Flicker Issues: Should the IEEE Adopt the IEC Approach?
• World Lighting Links - categorized index of useful lighting sites on the Internet
• www.on-light.de - site about light, lamps and lighting architecture, text in German

Microprocessor based and digitally controlled dimmers

• All-digital circuit fires triac - this digital circuit allows a ตP to control ac power precisely without using any digital-to-analog circuitry
• Controller provides multimode phase control - 16C508 multichip controller, you can implement a phase controller that provides a two-key, indexed processor for ac power, circuit design idea from EDN Magazine
• Experiment to dimp light bulb by computer
• High Efficiency Halogen Bike Light Dimmer - used PIC 16F84 to control 20 watt 12V DC halogen lamp
• PIC 16C63 Midi controlled Light dimmer - four channel dimmer cintrollable using MIDI interface, operates at 110V AC, design can be modified to use standard baud rates, and the RS-232 Electrical interface
• New Power Designs and Application Information from STMicroelectronics - new approaches for light dimmers using the ST62 series microcontroller including touch dimmer and dimmer circuit based on IGBT or MOSFET
• PIC 16C63 Midi controlled Light dimmer - This box has a MIDI interface and can control lights.
• PICDIM Application Note
• Smart Light Dimmer - light dimmer design using a PIC16C55
• Smart Light Dimmer Schematic - Idea for using 68HC05 and TRIAC to make a light dimmer.
• ST6 Microcontroller and triacs on mains - includer dimmer circuit example
• ตC implements pushbutton light dimmer - circuit design idea from EDN Magazine

Dimmer circuits for low voltage DC lamps

• 12V 20W lamp dimming using current controlling principle - pdf file
• 12V or 24V DC Pulse Width Modulator - This circuit can be used as a light dimmer or DC motor speed controller.
• 12 Volt Lamp Dimmer - dimming done by controlling the duty cycle of a astable 555 timer oscillator
• A Dome Light Dwell Extender/Dimmer - allows you to dim your dome light and keeps the dome light of your automobile on after you close the door
• A Microcontroller Based Motor Speed Control / Light Dimmer - article with theory and circuit
• Circuits provide 4- to 20-mA PWM control - are useful when you use 4- to 20-mA current-loop signals to control a PWM signal
• Dome Lamp Dimmer - Efficiently dim the car's dome or map light (low voltage light), pdf file
• Dome Lamp Dimmer
• Efficient dc lamp dimmer using 74C14 and power FET - dims 12V DC lamp up to 24W power
• Electronic transformer dims halogen lamp - switched-mode power supply for a halogen lamp, commonly known as an electronic transformer, is a clever and simple device which can be enhanced with dimming control
• Halogen light dimmer provides infinite control - dimmer works to inject a constant current into the halogen lamp and to regulate that current using pulse-width modulation (PWM) according to a potentiometer-controlled input, or a 0 to 5V signal
• High Efficiency Halogen Bike Light Dimmer - used PIC 16F84 to control 20 watt 12V DC halogen lamp
• Lantern Dimmer/Flasher
• PLL-based converter controls light source - digitally control the light intensity of a lamp, control loop is based on a PLL, in which the VCO comprises a light-to-frequency converter (TSL220) coupled to a light source that derives its drive from a switching regulator (L4970A)
• PWM circuit uses one op amp - circuit delivers a rectangular signal with duty cycle varying between 0 and 100% in response to an input signal varying from 0 to 5V dc
• PWM Motor/Light Controller - pulse width modulator for 12 and 24 Volt applications, uses 400 Hz PWM frequency and can control current up to 3 amps
• PWM Motor/Light Controller - 12 or 24V pulse width modulator for light dimming or DC motor controlling
• PWM Motor/Light Controller Variations - diagrams are for 12V operation and there are high side (common ground) and low side (common +12V) versions
• Smart 12 volt light dimmer - This automatic dimmer will control up to 50 watts worth of halogen lamps in order to maintain a consistent light level in a room. Document is in pdf format.
• Switching regulator turns into light source - simple external feedback circuit transforms a switching regulator into a constant-intensity light source
• Two-wire dc lamp dimmer replaces rheostats - low-cost DC lamp dimmer that can control more than 100W of incandescent panel lighting from 12V DC, originally designed for use in commercial trucks

Light dimmer rack controlling desks

• Analogue light controlling desk - very simple and basic four channel lighting desk with standard 0..10V control voltage output, works with most of the dimmer racks with analogue 0-10V input
• CV-ranger - transforms a 0-5V input voltage to a adjustable range between 0-10V
• Light Processor 434 Piano Touch Panel - circuit diagram in pdf format, check also power supply circuit diagram
• Light Processor 436 Lighting Controller - circuit diagram in pdf format, check also power supply circuit diagram
• LX-800 Controllers - 8 channel two bank light dimmer controller desk with sound to lig toptions, outputs standard 0-10V DC control voltage

Other dimmer circuits

• Advance Power System Experimenters Kit - runs low voltage bulbs from mains using dimmer like method for reducing the voltage
• An Experimental Cross-Fader for Pepper's Ghost - cross-fader light dimmer circuit built from teo normal light dimmers
• Electronic Light Intensity Control to Simulate Dusk and Dawn Conditions - Simulation of sunrise and sunset light conditions is achieved with an electronic light intensity control using DC- or AC-powered incandescent lamps. The duration of the sunrise and sunset is easily adjusted and the photoperiod is controlled with a standard 24-h timer.
• Remote Controlled Lamp Dimmer - Here is a complete design project from Biltronix that allows you to use an off the shelf remote to control the brightness of the lights.
• Remote Control Lighting - up to four channels of light dimmers to be remotely controlled with IR remote
• Soft-start controller is gentle on loads - This controller senses a given load and automatically soft-starts the load by synchronously adjusting the power to that load. You can also manually adjust the power delivered to the load by controlling the phase angle of the line voltage across the load. The phase-angle adjustment for every ac half cycle covers 0 to 180ฐ.