P‐38 Discharge Characteristics of External Electrode Fluorescent Lamps (EEFLs) for LCD Backlighting Application

Abstract

The discharge characteristics of the external electrode fluorescent lamps (EEFL) depending on the widths of the external electrodes were evaluated and compared with that of the cold cathode fluorescent lamps (CCFL). The conventional inverter was used for driving EEFL and CCFL. The luminance of the EEFL with 20mm of external electrode width and CCFL at 12V of inverter input voltage were 22,000 cd/m 2 and 25,500 cd/m 2 , respectively. The luminance and efficiency of the EEFL is similar to that of CCFL or CEFL. The life time of EEFL is expected to be much longer than that of CCFL or CEFL so that the EEFL could be more useful as the lamps for LCD backlighting.