Metal Halide Technology

High pressure discharge lamps or, more precisely metal halide lamps, combine an enormous amount of light with very good color rendering.

Metal Halide Lights use an arc instead of a filament
Unlike a conventional incandescent (GLS) lamp, where light is generated through resistance heating of a filament and most of the electrical energy is converted to heat instead of light, the metal halide lamp generates light by passing an electrical current from one electrode to another through a metal vapor, to form an arc between the electrodes.

Metal Halide gives more lumens per watt
The result is far more light output than that produced from an ordinary incandescent lamp and operates far more economically, with much more of the electrical input converted to light instead of heat.

M H Lamps Give Long Life
Another benefit is that with no filament to burn out, the lamp will last an average of 6000 hours, or 2 years - six times longer than a standard incandescent lamp - and up to 9000 hours, or 3 years, if used with electronic control gear.

What is Pulse Start Metal Halide?
A change in the lamp and ballast construction allows pulse start metal halide lamps to start using a high voltage ignitor in the ballast instead of a starting electrode (probe) in the lamp. The result is a "white light" system that challenges high pressure sodium’s long lamp life, high lumen output and quick starts capabilities. This produces metal halide lamps with 20,000 hours of life or longer.