Neon is still the undisputed illumination provider of channel letter lighting, but LEDs are definitely leaving their glowing mark along the way. This is not to say that one technology is better than the other, but that sign fabricators and end-users now have more choices in the best ways to design their sign lighting.
虽然发光字主要的光源历来都是采用霓虹灯，但是LED一定是发光字未来的发展方向。这不是代表新的技术比旧的技术好，因为对于标识制造商和终端用户来说，它们在标识光源方面将有更多更好的选择。
Although LEDs are available in the full range of primary colors, some LED colors perform better than others for channel letter usage. Red, which is the oldest existing LED, one of the brightest and also the least expensive, is obviously the most popular color employed in channel letter lighting. Other LED colors aren't always as bright as red, or as affordable. Thus other LED color selections are judged on a case by case basis of the sign size and how well the LEDs can illuminate it.
虽然LED有全系列不同的颜色，但是只有一些LED的颜色比其它LED的颜色更好的用在发光字上。最早出现的LED颜色是红色，并且特点最亮和最节约成本，所以也是我们平时在发光字看到的最常见的颜色。其它LED的颜色没有像红色那么亮或者节约成本，所以其它LED的颜色，会根据不同项目工程的情况，以及发光字的要求去使用。
The point of departure for LEDs and channel letters begins and ends at the manufacturers who fabricate the signs and ship them to resellers or installers for final deployment on a building. To gain some perspective of how well LEDs fit within channel letters, one LED lighting integrator, SloanLEDs of Ventura, California and two manufacturing companies; ESCO Manufacturing in South Dakota and Direct Wholesale in Denver, Colorado, were interviewed for a progress report on LEDs in the channel letter marketplace.
为了了解从LED发光字的使用和标识制作商的利用与安装，学习关于怎么在发光字里面安装LED 的资讯。我们走访一些相关LED的企业，包括美国加州文图拉的SloanLEDs LED制造商和另外两家生产公司；ESCO制造商，美国科罗拉多州的丹佛South Dakota公司和Direct Wholesale公司。
SloanLED was founded in 1957 to design and develop industrial lighting products. By the early 1970s, Sloan was a pioneer in LED technology and started using them mostly for instrumentation lighting. By 1997, the company began to apply LEDs to signage and within a couple of years, developed a series of products for channel letters and architectural applications.
SloanLED公司在1957年成立，这是一家专门设计和开发光源产品的公司。早在70年代，Sloan公司是最早开发LED光源技术并且开始主要应用在乐器方面。在1997年开始的几年里，公司开始把LED光源应用在标识领域，并且开发了一系列的产品针对发光字和建筑行业的市场。
Using appropriate LED systems that incorporated both a lighting unit and accompanying power supply, SloanLED developed three LED product applications, each supported with its own dedicated power supply. All SloanLED product lines are available in a range of LED colors including red, amber, yellow, green, blue and white. All SloanLED systems are modular in their design and can be cut to size in the shop or in the field to fit whatever shape and size is needed for the LED lighting application.
使用合适的LED系统和关联的光源部分电源，SloanLED开发了三种LED应用产品，每一种产品都有专用的电源。全部的SloanLED产品线都有全系列的LED光源颜色，包括：红色，琥珀色，黄色，绿色，蓝色和白色。全部SloanLED系统都是模块化的，并且可以根据客户不同的设计要求切割成所需要的形状和尺寸。
The first product line is ChanneLED4 which are flat PC board modules with specific colored LEDs attached to them. The board comes in three sizes depending on the color, a 4 inch board, a 2.5 inch board and a 1.5 inch board. Each format results in six LEDs per foot in a straight-way layout in a channel letter form. During assembly the ChanneLED4 modules can be wired in serial or parallel connections and can be easily attached with the pre-applied, self-adhesive or screwed into the channel letter form. ChanneLED4 relies on a 12 V DC power source with outputs that range between 1.2 watts/foot to 1.8 watts/foot.
第一条产品线是ChanneLED4模组，这是一条平直的印刷电路板模块上面附上特定颜色的LED。这种电路板会用颜色分成三种不同的尺寸，分别有4英寸、2.5英寸和1.5英寸。每一种产品都是每英尺6个LED模组，以直线的形式安装在发光字里面。在安装ChanneLED4模组的时候，可以使用连续串连或者平行连接的形式安装，并且粘贴模组或者用螺丝安装都是非常便捷的。ChanneLED4模组是使用12伏的直流电源，输出是在1.2瓦特/英尺和1.8瓦特/英尺之间。
The second application is ThinLED which is used for reversed lit halo channel letters. Here the LEDs are mounted on a flexible backing with self-adhesive and in turn mounted directly to the edges of the LED letter forms. Once completely wired together, the channel letter is turned to face the wall. The projecting illumination will backlight the sign, creating a silhouette appearance of the letters against the wall. The system voltage ranges between 2.1 watts per foot and 3.0 watts per foot.
第二种产品是ThinLED模组，这是使用在金属发光字里面。这种LED模组通常粘贴在字弯曲部分的背面和直接安装在发光字的边缘。只要用电线把模组链接后，把发光字面向墙就可以了。这种发光形式是通过在标识背后发光，光线对墙的反射，营造一种字体的轮廓的体现。这种模组的使用电压在2.1瓦特/英尺到3.0瓦特/英尺之间。
LEDStripe is an architectural lighting element that is a series of LEDs inside of an extruded tube, each tube being a full color of the complete range of colors that Sloan offers. The LED Strips can be cut to any size to conform to the sides or horizontal profiles of a building design. LEDStripe's voltage is 24 V AC and draws 2.8 watts per foot of product run.
LEDStripe灯条是一种建筑上的光源系统，将一系列的LED模组安放在一个挤压管里面，每一个管里面颜色的发光都是Sloan公司提供的模组。LED灯条可以被切成不同的尺寸去适应不同水平面的楼体设计。LEDStripe模组使用在电压24伏的交流电源，2.8瓦特/英尺的产品。
SloanLED's growth was observed by VP of Sales and Marketing, Ron Wallace who said that year after year the company has constantly increased their LED sales to the sign market. "We sell to sign supply distributors. Within the domain of channel letters, we see growth opportunities for LED usage, both in the retrofitting market and in new product applications."
SloanLED公司的增长是非常明显。罗恩.华勒斯（公司销售和营销副总裁）说，我们生产的LED光源在标识领域每年一直都有连续的增长。他还说：“我们把LED卖给标识供应商的同时，在发光字领域，我们还看到了LED在标识改造市场和新标识应用方面的使用产生了巨大增长。”
"About 10% of SloanLED's customers contact us about retrofitting neon with equivalent LED products. Within the next year or so, I expect that percentage to increase as more customers become price conscious over the cost and ongoing maintenance of operating neon."
“现在大约10%的SloanLED客户联系我们了解关于使用LED产品对霓虹灯标识改造。在接下来的几年内，我预计这方面的客户比例将不断增多，因为他们会更注重和考虑霓虹灯的长期维护成本和价格。”
ESCO Manufacturing (Watertown, South Dakota) has been fabricating electric signs since 1965 and has nearly 80,000 square feet of sign manufacturing space located in the heart of the Midwest. The company manufactures aluminum extruded and angle iron frame internally illuminated sign cabinets in all sizes in standard or custom shapes. They also manufacture channel letters and rigid and flexible faces. Department Supervisor of the channel letter department, Jenny Zeck spoke of the impact of LEDs as a new component for lighting channel letters.
ESCO工厂（在南达科他州沃特敦市）自1965年起开始制作发光标识，并且在中西部中心地区拥有80000平方英尺的标识制作厂房。公司生产全尺寸标准和客户定制的发光标识，并使用铝金属挤压弯曲成金属边框。公司同样制作发光字，金属标牌和亚克力标识。发光字部门经理珍妮.泽克对我们说LED将成为发光字一个不可缺少的部分。
"We sell our signs to a variety of customers from the occasional end-user to mostly other sign manufacturers whose services do not include making electric signs. We started dealing with LEDs around 2002 and have seen a continuing demand for LEDs in some of our channel letter projects. Our LED kits come primarily from LED system integrators, particularly GELcore and SloanLED, both offering different kinds of LED lighting kits and each complete with its own power supply system. The majority of our LED use, as you'd expect, is with red. We also see occasional requests for other colors, however, most of them have a way to go to match the brightness levels and low cost that red offers."
“我们把标识销售给不同的客户群体，从一些终端客户到其它不制造发光标识厂家。我们大约从2002年开始接触LED行业，并且看到了在发光字领域对LED的长期需求。我们整套LED产品主要是来自GELcore公司和SloanLED公司的LED集成系统，这两套产品提供了不一样的配套LED光源，并且它们都有自己的电源系统。我们主要使用的LED，和你们预计一样，都是红色发光的。我们也会遇到一些客户要求使用其它颜色，但是，更多的客户还是选用红色LED，因为节约成本并且亮度与其他颜色的一致。
LEDs are deployed in two areas of channel letter lighting; the first is new signs where the preferred lighting source is LEDs. The second area is replacement for previously installed sign projects, where for reasons of cost savings, the sign owners have opted to change out the neon with an LED system. According to Zeck, "Most of our use of LEDs is putting it in the new channel letter signs that we build. Occasionally we have a retrofit request, and in that situation, we send out a pre-configured LED package of a preferred amount of LED lighting and a power supply to the sign distributor out in the field who then does the retrofit on site."
LED被利用在发光字的两个方面；第一个是在新的标识上面使用LED光源发光。第二个是在旧的标识上面进行安装，这样可以节约成本，并且标识的老板可以选择使用LED光源对霓虹灯标识进行更换。根据泽克的描述“我们的LED主要都是使用在我们制作新的发光字里面。偶尔会遇到客户翻新的需求，在这种情况，我们会把预先配置好的LED产品，包括LED光源和电源数量配送到标识经销商那里，让他们帮客户更换。”
"For the LED work we do here at the plant, most of our LED usage has been with closed- face channel letters, the remainder of our LED installs has been reverse-faced lighting. Obviously no one has done an open-faced LED installation, because at that point they're looking to trace the letter form, and many prefer the streamlined neon look."
“在我们做的LED项目里面，基本主要都是表面封闭发光的发光字，剩下有一些是LED安装后背面发个光的发光字。显然，没有人会把LED安装在正面敞开的标识字上，因为人们可以看到字的形状并且更像霓虹灯那样的展示效果。
In one ESCO sign installation, a large Budweiser, closed-face channel letter project showed up on the shop floor, said Zeck. "This was a cursive letter style where each letter was about six feet tall and the total sign was about thirty-four feet in length with every letter populated with red LEDs. One benefit of using LEDs is you don't have to worry about corners or tight spots, especially with cursive fonts. The LED wire is flexible enough that you can bend it to follow the shape of each letter. Once finished, the Budweiser sign was lit up and we were happy with the results. There were no shadows or 'hot spots' on the sign face, and it was lit evenly between each letter."
在一次ESCO的标识安装中，项目是一个大的百威啤酒标识，是在店面显示的表面封闭发光的发光字。泽克说“标识是使用草书的字体，并且每一个字都有6英尺高，整个标识总共有34英尺长和安装红色的LED灯。使用LED灯的其中一个好处是不用担心边角位置，特别是应用在草书字体上面。LED电线非常灵活，并且可以弯曲成字的形状。标识完成后，百威啤酒标识非常的亮，这是我们很高兴看到的结果。标识表面没有阴影和缺光部分，而且每个字的发光都非常均匀。
In another sign installation, ESCO has fabricated Arby's signs with neon lighting for years, but then the client requested using LED illumination for new signs instead. The change was emphasized for both a cost savings in energy consumption and also for the opportunity to reduce the servicing aspects of the signs. Since LEDs burn for an average of 100,000 hours before beginning to loose intensity and are less susceptible to breakage, the client, said Zeck, was willing to initiate a replacement in the signs lighting configuration.
在另外一个标识安装，ESCO公司一年前都是使用霓虹灯制作Arby’s汉堡包标识，但是后来客户要求使用LED光源代替制作新的标识。这次改变强调既可以节约电量消耗又可以减少维护成本。因为LED的发光度在减弱前可以平均持续10万小时的正常亮度，并且不受影响。泽克说客户将会对之前的标识进行同样的更换。
"We installed the LED units into the Arby's letters, in both the hat band of the sign and in the channel letters, altogether it was about 200 feet of red LEDs per sign. Once completed we ran some light tests using a light meter and discovered that the intensity of the LEDs was as bright, if not brighter, than the neon lighting that was previously used."
“我们把LED模组安装在Arby’s店的字母上，包括品牌帽子的图像和发光字，全部加起来一个标识超过200英尺，并全部使用红色LED灯。完成后，我们进行了发光测试，发现LED的发光强度非常的亮，并且我们看到标识之前使用的霓虹灯都是不够亮的。”
Direct Sign Wholesale (Denver, Colorado) is a wholesale manufacturer of channel letter signs and was started back in 1995. The company manufacturers their channel letter signs straight from their customer's shop drawings, fabricates the sign to completion and returns the finished product to sign distributors for delivery to their end-users.
Direct Sign Wholesale公司，在美国科罗拉多州丹佛市，在1995年开始，是一家发光字的批发商。它们公司制作的发光字都是直接来自客户在它们的店面设计、制作到标识、完成最终成品最后到经销商配送到终端客户手里。
In the old days of channel letter fabrication (pre-LED), when a customer ordered a channel letter sign package, they always knew it would be a neon illuminated sign - end of story. Now, customers have choices about how they want their signs lit said Michael Bluhm, National Marketing Manager for Direct Sign Wholesale. "When our customer chooses LEDs for a channel letter project, it's usually based on its energy savings considerations. We have a lot of LED projects coming to us from national accounts with significant amounts of electric signage on their properties and they see LED signs as a way to control energy costs and still have a great sign."
在以前发光字的制作（没有使用LED前），客户是先预定好发光字的一套包装，并且客户都知道这是霓虹灯的发光标识。迈克.布卢姆(Direct Sign Wholesale公司的国际市场经理)说：而现在，客户在他们想要的标识发光方面会有很多的选择。当我们客户选择LED作为发光字的项目，通常都是因为电量节省的考虑。我们有很多LED的项目都是来自于一些国际品牌的店面的发光标识，因为客户看到LED不仅能节省电量，并且会使发光标识更加的美观和时尚。
"The most effective color for us is red and we usually use GELcore's Tetra product lines for our channel letter lighting. Occasionally other LED color requests come in as well. White is the second most quoted color, but it's quite a bit more expensive. Despite the higher cost, we occasionally get an order for white LEDs. In one instance, we had a sign that was a six foot oval logo, followed by fourteen 35-inch letters, all to be filled with white LEDs. Its design was no different than any other LED sign we've installed. We faxed the LED manufacturer the artwork which specified the size, style and font of the channel letters. They reviewed the drawings and determined how many LEDs were needed for each letter and that's how we populated it."
“对我们来说最好的LED颜色是红色，我们通常使用的是GELcore公司的Tetra产品线在发光字上。偶尔应要求我们也要使用其它颜色。白色LED灯是第二种常用的颜色，不过价格有一点贵。虽然白色价格有点高，但是有时我们还是会预定一些白色LED。举一个例子，有一个6英尺的椭圆形标识，并且后面要跟着14个35英寸的字母，我们要在这个标识都安装好白色的LED灯。这个设计与我们平时安装的LED标识没什么区别。我们首先把这个标识的图像、尺寸、款式和发光字母的字体传真到LED制造商。LED制造商看了我们发去的图样，并且决定这个标识和字母大约需要多少个LED灯和怎么安装。”
LED lighting is definitely part of the future of channel letters as Bluhm of Direct Sign Wholesale noted, "We see a slow steady use of LEDs for our sign work. At this time our LED channel letter is about 5% of all the channel letter fabrication we do. ESCO's Zeck says that for LED installations on her signs, some days are busier than others, but one thing is certain, that activity is slowly growing as more people understand LEDs as a usable light source for channel letters.
Direct Sign Wholesale公司的布卢姆陈述LED光源肯定是发光字将来的趋向。我们看到标识制作中LED被稳定增长性的使用着。现在，我们做的发光字制作中只有5%是LED发光字。ESCO公司的泽克说：在他们公司安装的LED标识当中，将会越来越普及， LED光源将会是发光字最合适的光源。
