Glossary of Lighting Terms

Glossary 

Bayonet Base: A light base which connects to the electricity source through two prongs. 

Beam Angle: The angle at which the light is setup to shine. However, the beam angle of a lamp is the angle at which the light is distributed or emitted.

Colour Temperature: The colour of the light, measured in Kelvin. Common colours include 2700k (warm white) and 6000k (daylight.)

CRI: Colour rendering index. The higher the index, the better quality the light. Higher CRI generally creates a better colour appearance of the objects lit by it.

Cut-out: Hole created to house a light e.g. a hole in the ceiling into which a downlight is placed. 

Diameter: The distance from one side of a circle to the other when passing through the centre of the circle.

Dimensions: The size of the light.

Dimmable: Light has the ability to become brighter or softer via a switch or app.

Downlight: A type of light that emits light downwards in a room while sitting flush against the ceiling.

Edison Bulbs: Thomas Edison invented early versions of the light bulb, using electric light. LED bulbs or globes that have this same style of appearance are frequently referred to as Edison bulbs or globes. 

Edison Screws: Thomas Edison invented early versions of the light bulb, using electric light. LED bulb or globes that have this same style of screw base are frequently referred to as Edison bulbs or globes. See also screw base. 

Filament: The metal strand inside a globe or bulb that emits light. Edison or vintage-style light bulbs or globes feature filaments as a key element of the light style.

Floodlight: A light designed to spotlight or ‘flood’ light into a certain area. Generally used outdoors.

Garden Light: A light designed to highlight key garden features, including trees, garden beds and pathways.

Halogen: A type of bulb or globe featuring a filament and gas combination to produce light. Halogen is a type of incandescent light. 

Incandescent: An electric light which emits light by heating a metal filament.

Kelvin: The number of kelvin determines the colour of the light. Common colours include 2700k (warm white) and 6500k (daylight.)

LED: Light Emitting Diodes are the semiconductor devices which emit light when electric current flows through them.

LED Strip: A light emitting flexible strip of circuit board with Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) mounted on the surface, often with adhesive on the back side.

LED Neon Strip: A LED strip fully encapsulated by silicone. It is very flexible and emits light uniformly.

LED Lifetime: The number of hours during which an LED light can be expected to run effectively.  

Light Base: The bottom of a light source which connects the globe, downlight or other type of light to a power supply. Light bases can be screw threads or bayonets. The type of base you need depends on how the fitting you wish to put the light into has been created. 

Light Bulb or Globe: A source of light housed within a glass case, which can be generated through light emitting diodes (LED), halogen or incandescent means. All products listed on this website use LED technology. 

Lighting Council of Australia: The peak regulatory body for Australia’s lighting industry. LCA aims to encourage the use of environmentally appropriate, energy efficient, quality lighting systems.

Lumen: Measures the brightness of a light, or the amount of light that’s visible to a human eye. 

Power: Power is the rate of consumption or generation of energy. It is measured in Watts.

Product Category: Categorises the type of lighting by use type e.g. downlight, garden light.

Product Code: The supplier code used to differentiate the different Hyundai lighting products.

Recessed: A style of light that is able to be inserted into a hole e.g. a recessed downlight can be placed into a hole in a plaster ceiling so the light source sits flush against the ceiling. 

RGB: Red, green, blue. RGB lights enable users to choose from up to 16 million colours by simply combining different elements of each of these colours. 

Screw Thread Base: A light base which screws into the electricity source.

Smart: An appliance (or light) that can be connected to and controlled by an app. Hyundai Lighting works with TUYA to enable smart lights for your home or office.

Specifications: The features offered in a particular light. 

Surface Mounted: A light that is designed to be attached to the surface of an object, such as a wall or pillar.  

Tuneable White: The ability to change the shades of white (or kelvin) to move between warm white, cool white and daylight shades. 

Voltage: Voltage is the measure of electrical potential difference between two points. It’s essentially the amount of electricity that is able to flow through a light without breaking it. Think of voltage as similar to the pressure of water created by a tap (whereas current is similar to the flow of the water from the tap!)

Watts: A unit to measure power. According to Wikipedia “The watt is a method of measuring the rate of energy transfer of an appliance.”

Are we missing any terms that you would like us to add? If so, email us at info@hyundailighting.com.au with ‘Glossary of Lighting Terms’ as the subject line. We’ll get our expert team to review your request and add it to this glossary if relevant.