LED, Fiber and Neon Now: A Perspective from Experience
“锦囊妙计”，LED和霓虹灯的经验之谈
Educating yourself on the many nuances of LED, fiber optics and neon can help you to develop better solutions, enhance customer service and offer a more intelligent look at options for your clients.
当您明白了LED、线性灯带和霓虹灯的本质区别后，您会在发光标识领域获得更多的客户，给他们提供更优质的服务意识，客户也拥有了最智能的选择。
Additionally, I have written many articles offering comparisons for neon, LED, and fiber optics. In addition, I was the first to offer a comparison chart for a set of channel letters with all three options that included transformers, light sources, and power supplies showing energy usage and typical maintenance concerns.
我写过许多关于LED、线性灯带和霓虹灯进行比较的文章。此外，我是第一个为发光字母提供比较图的人，包括变压器、光源，也标注了能源使用和日常维护问题。
Therefore, as you might guess I am a fan of using the safest lighting option for the applicable design. It could be said, for an illuminated sign option, nothing could be safer than fiber optics as there is no electricity or heat at the illuminated site. None, not even low voltage.
设计比较好的发光标识，我是很乐意提供多种发光能源供客户选择。如果照明地点没有电或热，甚至没有电压，为了安全，我会推荐客户选择线性灯带。
Neon DNA
氖DNA
If you have ever talked to me, you have heard me mention neon DNA, and it is still true today. Time will change this more than product options, in my estimation, but it will change. We all have true friends and business friends we look to for input and support. At the ISA show in Orlando last year (2018), I met up with one of my Canadian business friends with whom I have tremendous respect, and pointed to a neon display that had a very poorly illuminated example of LED, next to their 6500K white neon. Neon DNA took hold of his very being and low and behold, my cold weather friend offered; “See, neon is brighter than LED”. “Wrong!”, I offered and told him of the probable causes for this unfair comparison.
发光标识不断发展会让客户在材料上拥有更多的选择，比如我曾经提到过的霓虹灯中加入氖DNA。我们都会在真正的朋友和商业朋友中寻求支持和投入，2018年奥兰多举办的ISA展会上，我会见了一位我非常尊敬的加拿大商业朋友，并指出一个霓虹灯显示屏，它的照明效果非常差，仅次于6500K白色霓虹灯。我朋友非常失望的说：“霓虹灯中充入氖的氖灯比霓虹灯更亮。”“错了！”我告诉他，霓虹灯中充入氖是光源中的一种选择，但是还有LED、线性灯带等多种选择。
Therein lies one of the problems in any industry, a fair and balanced comparison of products, apples for apples. You have some manufacturers showing their products in "one off" examples that look fantastic and make the alternative or competitive option look bad. All three lighting products have done this. Yes, neon as mentioned above, LED over-driven by power supplies to the LED and more fiber optic than one can afford, all to make each other look inferior.
一些标识制造商生产“一次性”的霓虹灯，看起来非常漂亮，实际上是错误的使用方法。这是每个行业都面临的问题之一，打个比方，用苹果换苹果，结果还是不变。霓虹灯发光，是由电源驱动到LED显示屏上，霓虹灯制造商虽然选择了线性灯带，但是线性灯带被超频使用，所以人们看见的霓虹灯光非常暗淡。
All things equal, LED is probably the best all around custom lighting solution in the sign industry today. It is the ignorance of the undereducated that slows progress, and also for many founded and unfounded reasons.
LED、线性灯带虽然是标识行业在能源上最佳的选择，但是事情都是平等的，由于标识制造商对LED等专业领域涉及较浅，所以导致了标识制造进步比较缓慢。
I have had national sign companies tell me my fiber optic or LED system is intended to put them out of business. I would respond with; “Are you in business to make neon, or money? Surprisingly I heard "In business to make neon" more times than an economics professor could survive hearing without yelling, “Get out of my class, you idiot!”. I would then ask; “Do you perform warranty work for free during the warranty period, and again I would get the amazing answer "
LED、线性灯带光源是标识公司未来发展的最佳选择，因为公司可以利用这些能源的功能来换取更多的利润，而不仅仅是在霓虹灯中获得微薄的利润。如果经济学教授听到你只想在霓虹灯中赚钱的消息，都会不愿意大喊：“滚出我的课堂，你这个白痴！”另外，在产品保修期内，你是否愿意免费维修呢？许多公司的回答是那么的令人惊讶，“愿意。”
Warranty work is not free and to make my point, "There is No Free Lunch". Warranty work even costs the customer, as they paid for their signs with certain markups to cover the cost of probable warranty work, as a part of being in business (or least that is the way it is supposed to be). Every time a sign company has to send out a crew for a warranty repair, it is costing them money, unless they have figured a way around paying the employees, paying for the fuel and the equipment maintenance.
Changing minds
“世界上没有免费的午餐”，所以保修工作不是免费的。售后的维修是客户应该支付一定的费用的，因为这也是替客户服务的一部分，也是业务的一部分。无论何时，标识公司只要派员工去进行维修工作，都应该让客户支付相应的费用，除非标识公司能想出来一个支付员工工资、燃料和维护设备费用的方法。
Old sign men like me understand that neon, when done correctly, as an art will last, in a general sense, forever. A three-week class does not make a Neon Expert. When an industry (any industry) can grow without self-preservation considerations for the future, like happened with neon, a government or ruling body will step in, as was done with the implementation of UL2161.
聪明的霓虹灯标识公司就明白这个道理，想要做好霓虹灯，三个星期的课程是无法成为霓虹灯专家。因为霓虹灯一旦做好了，就会成为一件艺术品，从现实意义上来说，就会永久的保存下去。当任何行业在不考虑自我保护的情况下发展时，就像发生在霓虹灯身上一样，由于政府或者统治机构的介入，安全认证2161霓虹灯变压器，会成为了霓虹灯发展的动力之一。
Sure UL2161 was not the total solution, but it was a big step in the right direction as it relates to safety and electrical concerns. However, what UL2161 did do was help open the door for fiber optic to enter the sign industry. As such, it also helped LED run right in behind fiber optics.
虽然UL2161变压器不是完全的解决方案，但是它涉及解决安全和电气问题，所以它是朝着正确方向迈出了一大步。UL2161能帮助线性灯带打开进入标识行业的大门，因此，它也能协助LED在光源上的运行。
“What goes around, comes around”, an expression I am sure many of you have heard. It is interesting to see neon product manufacturers now offering LED products right beside their neon products. Lead, follow, or get out of the way comes to mind. Even Marketing 101 offers up, “The customer is always right!”
俗话说：“种瓜得瓜，种豆得豆”。有趣的是，现在的霓虹灯产品制造商也在他们的霓虹灯产品中提供LED产品。制造商明白线性灯带、LED等新光源是霓虹灯发展不可或缺，因为即使有101个营销员都会明白，顾客在这些光源的需求量很大。
However, I still have to offer: “let the buyer beware.” At ISA 2004 in Orlando there were still LED products being over-driven to increase brightness. What most don’t understand is that overdriving an LED causes more heat and more heat causes installation and life cycle degradation issues, if it is not done correctly. There is also an influx of LED companies that have product, but no understanding of the sign industry. They see the potential, but do not have the knowledge and they hope you will be their next Guinea Pigs. Do not fall for it.
然而，我仍然不得不说：“让买家当心，才是上上策。”2018年在奥兰多的ISA展览中，仍有许多LED产品被超频使用，超频LED会产生更多的热量。但是大多数客户不明白，产品使用不正确的话，是会导致安装周期增加、产品寿命减少等问题。所以，有大量LED产品的公司不断涌入，但他们对发光标识行业了解非常浅，他们看到了潜力，却没有具体的解决方案，他们在不断寻找客户，千万要当心。
Just as neon is a "package" of parts that are designed to work with each other, LED and fiber optics have the same concerns. Overdriving LED is a short-term win for a long-term failure. Using fiber optics for the wrong application can cause the price to skyrocket.
霓虹灯正如人们看到的广告形象，它的设计原理和LED、线性灯带相似。尽管超频LED在短期的时间内产生了一定的作用，但在长期使用中却不够持久，线性灯带等的错误使用，会导致相应的费用飞涨。
I will take the position that most people reading this understand neon, if not technically, at least from general association of "sight". LED is an option for just about any application that can be lighted with neon. And when considering the cold climates of the world and colors other than red (neon) LED and fiber optics really have an advantage as the dense cold air does not affect the light output of the LED or fiber optic (lamp).
如果不是专业人员的话，我相信阅读这本书的人都能通过视觉的帮助去联想到霓虹灯。LED是霓虹灯的选择之一，几乎可以应用于任何的工程项目。当寒冷的气候来临时，由于LED、线性灯带的光源输出优势，他们的光源输出是不会受到冷空气的影响。
Neon transformers are offered in 60 and even 90 MA ratings to help compensate for the cold weather concerns that reduce neon's brightness (again not red).
霓虹灯变压器的电流值稳定在60MA到90MA，当寒冷天气来临时，会降低对霓虹灯的损失，而且不只是红色霓虹灯。
What most sign shops will not tell the prospect / customer is that a 60 or 90 MA transformer uses two and three times more power consumption (wattage) than the standard 30ma transformer. Thus in the northern markets, LED and fiber should be an option that is offered to the prospect / customer when colors other than RED are required.
其实大多数标识公司是不会告诉潜在客户/客户，60MA或者90MA的霓虹灯变压器比30MA标准霓虹灯变压器耗电量高出了2~3倍。所以，在寒冷天气较长的北方市场，LED和线性灯带是潜在客户/客户的最佳选择。
POP (Point of Purchase) signs can benefit from fiber optics and LED, as they are safe in close customer contact areas, but again fiber optic is safer. Neon has to be shielded for this type of application due to the fragile glass and shock hazard. Just look at any neon window display to see what I mean.
POP（购买点导视标识）是近距离的接触客户，要求安全性高，所以POP标识从线性灯带、LED光源中获得了很大的利润。但是霓虹灯中含有大量的危险物氖，而且霓虹灯是玻璃制品，容易受到撞击，泄露危险物氖，因此霓虹灯只能放在橱窗里。
LED can now also be used to illuminate fiber optics and this emerging market is gaining engineering expertise in the Lighting community. Right now, there are LED "engines" that can light up the neon-look type fiber optics. This emerging technology is very important as it eliminates the large fan cooled "lightsource" and subsequently the high price associated with it and reduces potential service.
LED也能应用于发光标识，正逐渐地在发光标识领域得到专业知识认可。比如，LED引擎应用于霓虹灯型灯带，这是一项非常重要的新兴技术，因为它可以消除密集型冷空气冰冻光源。但是，相关的价格费用高涨，降低了潜在的服务。
Tools for the future
未来的工具
For the sign industry, neon look fiber optics are a natural for nightclubs, theaters and high end homes and controlled lighting conditions in high end retail. It is also safe to touch as there is no heat or electricity in the lighted path, no fragile glass to break and no high voltage wiring. These facts alone should offer up tremendous application (sales) opportunities. Then if you add in the option of color change, and controlled color imaging, fiber optics can be the right solution.
霓虹灯型线性灯带是夜总会、剧院和高端住宅的天然选择，也是高端零售业的主要发光光源，因为线性灯带发光标识没有热量、大安倍电流和易碎的玻璃制品，所以触摸很安全。如果你想要提供更多的色彩选择，线性灯带也是最佳选择，凭借这些优势，线性灯带、LED都会成为最畅销的销售品。
It is you, the sign industry person who needs to be educated in all the lighting options, not only to benefit your customer at any given time, but to also to enhance your bottom line as well. Fiber optic options eliminate high voltage concerns, shipping and packaging liabilities, installation breakage, and it can be reused to create a totally new design in many cases.
为了给客户最好的体验，同时也是为了提高你的底薪，你需要不断学习LED、线性灯带更多的专业知识。比如，你需要了解线性灯带可以消除高压、运输问题，以及线性灯带在安装破损后，还可以重复使用，重新设计新产品。
It opens up installation locations like POP use, in and around customers, water feature applications, etc. Just think of that high end hotel chain that has the water feature right in the lobby area. With fiber optic you could offer their logo, illuminated right in the middle of this attention-getter. This is possible as the light source is mounted remotely from the display with only fiber optic strands going to the lighted display.
举一个简单的例子，带水景的高端型酒店大堂区域，如果有了线性灯带标识，就可以吸引更多客人的注意力，这是真的，因为线性灯带的电源是安装在显示器外，客人看见的发光标识，只是线性灯带光束连接在显示器上，而且很安全。
Yes, LED can do the same. However, there is voltage “in and at” the lighting source, and there is access / maintenance issues to deal with. Some of these issues can be overcome by using the correct systems though. Once a fiber optic system is installed, there is no access issues with what you see illuminated. Thus, the harder the install, the more credence one should give to a fiber optic or LED system as your source of light.
是的，LED也可以做到上述的事情，在发光标识电源中到处都有电压，只有通过处理访问，日常维护才能解决电压问题。安装线性灯带后，这些发光标识电源问题就能得到解决，虽然线性灯带、LED的安装很困难，但是您应该信任线性灯带、LED作为您光源最可靠的选择。
In closing, I have to offer that I like neon’s brightness and color intensity and always have. I like fast cars also and both need respect and attention to detail. Just as the turbo can make a four or six cylinder engine outperform a V8, fiber optics and LED offer alternatives that have their place. It is you, the sign professional that is charged with learning what is best for your customer and the application, all with an eye focused on all types of liability and customer related concerns like service and energy costs. When you learn all of the facts, your customer and others win and we all know what happens when our customers win.
我不得不承认，我最喜欢霓虹灯五颜六色的发光标识，我也钟爱奔驰在路上的快车。但是除了喜欢它们本身之外，更应该关注它们的细节，正如涡轮增压器可以让V4和V6发动机优于V8发动机。线性灯带、LED也一样让发光标识优于霓虹灯。所以，只有你更了解线性灯带、LED的许多细微之处，才能帮助客户做出最好的选择，那么，您和您的客户就赢在了起跑线，将会获得更大的经济利润。
