Not only fluorescent lamps are improving. This small lamp is ideal for use in places like shops and stores for accent lighting. Metal halide lamps with greatly improved colour-rendering abilities, suitable for retail use, have also recently appeared. These lamps are at least twice as efficient as halogen lamps. Ballasts More-efficient electronic ballasts are making significant inroads against magnetic ballasts.
Ballasts basically control the current and voltage applied to the lamp.
An additional bonus is that fluorescent lamps tend to produce less of a flickering effect when driven at a higher frequency. A dimming system, coupled with photo sensors or other controls to reduce output when daylight is available, offers a great potential for energy savings. These specifications help describe the complicated harmonic frequency effects, which the ballast can have on the power supply and should not be associated with noise ratings. The first electronic ballasts were less reliable than magnetic ballasts, had poor power factors, and often produced unacceptably high levels of harmonic distortion. Manufacturers have addressed these problems and most electronic ballasts now last longer and dramatically outperform magnetic ballasts.