They used to
flicker,
now they flicker faster than the eye can see with electronic ballasts.
Even old bulbs can usually use an electronic
ballast that won't flicker.
Many different color
temperatures available (incandescent like
light is 3000 kelvin; doctors office bright white is 4100 kelvin)
You
can also get freaky with full spectrum bulbs.
Dimmable with special
ballasts and dimmers.
<--
High Pressure Sodium
High
Pressure Sodium:
24,000 hour life expectancy
Decent warm color
with a
good
amount of light per watt.
Mostly used at night and
provides poor contrast.
Usually designated with an
"LU" on
the
bulb.
Great for growing heirloom
tomatoes.
<--Metal
Halide
Metal Halide:
6,000 to 20,000 hour life
expectancy
good color with a good
amount of
light per watt.
Usually designated with an
"MVR" on the bulb.
<--Mercury
Vapor
Mercury
Vapor:
30,000 hour life expectancy
very bad
color
twice as efficient as
incandescent
These are usually
coated bulbs and have "S" or "HR" written on the bulb somewhere.
If
you are looking for
the perfect lamp for some application you may
want to look through the GE
lamp catalogs which give a lot
of info or just give us a ring.