Magnified Lamps
Types of Lighting
LED: A light-emitting diode (LED) is a semiconductor that emits visible light when an electric current passes through it. LEDs have many advantages over older incandescent light technology. They are more compact, consume less energy, are physically more durable, have a longer lifetime (from 25,000 to 100,000 hours) to last for years and years, and do not generate any appreciable heat.
Fluorescent: Fluorescent lights are known for their high energy efficiency, long life, cool running temperature, and relatively inexpensive energy cost. However, they are initially more costly than incandescent lamps because they require a ballast to regulate their current.
Incandescent: An incandescent lamp emits light caused by the heating of its filament by electric current. As a result, they generate more heat than Light Emitting Diodes or fluorescent lamps. While incandescent bulbs have a shorter lifespan, they are less expensive to replace. However, they are not as energy efficient to operate as LEDs or fluorescent lights. In general, they produce a pleasing, yellowish, warmer-looking illumination than the other artificial light alternatives.
Styles of Lamps
Table & Desk: A sturdy, compact, weighted base allows a magnified lamp to poise securely on desk or table.
Floor Standing: Stable, weighted pedestal base models allow magnifying lamps to stand on the floor; models with rolling casters allow easy positioning and repositioning.
Clamp Mount: An adjustable clamp attaches the magnified lamp to table, desk, work bench, laboratory or utility countertop.
Pivot Mount: Pivot mount lamps require a pivot-mount base accessory to bolt onto a horizontal or vertical surface - or to mount on a table, with screws.
History & Etymology of Magnified Lamps
Some manufacturers refer to magnified lamps as luminaires, which is a five dollar word for an electric lighting unit and its components. The word's etymology is French from 1921. We share this info with you so that you may, if you wish, impress family and friends when they ask, "What's that?" as they point to your impressive-looking lighted magnifier.
Lighted reading magnifiers of this variety are made to enhance vision by providing a magnified image and a good amount of illumination. These hands-free magnifiers are a favorite of repair professionals, electronics workers, scale model makers, craftsmen, artisans, and hobbyists. Magnified lamps allow careful inspection, precise assembly, and detailed work on watches, jewelry, electronic components, soldering jobs, and small model projects.
Those who knit or sew love using these illuminated magnifiers for their most challenging patterns. Estheticians, salon beauticians, and cosmetologists find these magnified lamps to be invaluable for facial skin analysis and care, as well as for the application of cosmetics.
Coin collectors enjoy using magnifying lamps to evaluate several coins at the same time. Fishing enthusiasts often rely on illuminated magnifiers when making their lures. Genealogy buffs and professionals appreciate the legible view of hard-to-read handwritten documents provided by lighted reading magnifiers.
Magnifier lamps typically have either a flexible goose neck or articulating rigid arm attached to a clamp-on D-bracket or weighted pedestal base. This allows magnified lamps of one type or another to be equally at home whether on the floor, a desk, laboratory table, work bench, countertop, or utility table.
Perhaps the most important beneficiaries of the terrific technology provided by lighted reading magnifiers are those vision-impaired individuals living with macular degeneration or other low-vision condition, as well as every senior with aging eyes. Magnified lamps brighten and sharpen their dim and blurry visual world, drawing back that dark curtain obscuring their sight, to reveal crisp and clear letters, words, sentences, and paragraphs; rendering newspaper articles, crossword puzzles, magazines, photographs, documents, stories, and books visible, readable, and enjoyable.
