Stroboscopic Light Do You Know What It Is? It's The Full Name For A Strobe Light

By Author: Sunil Punjabi
Total Articles: 2565
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Photography was one of the first places the strobe light was used, and the use of the light revolutionized the photography world as it allowed the capture of motion. Such a powerful light must be a very modern invention surely. Well, no, it's not as modern as you may think as it was invented way back in 1832 by Joseph Plateau who called his light a Phenakistoscope (it hardly rolls easily off the tongue!) Also credited with invention the stroboscope was Simon von Stampfer who actually called his lighting device the stroboscope which is the term still in use today.

The actual word stroboscope can be traced back to the Greek word strobos which means whirlpool and skopein meaning to look at. The use of the strobe light in photography can be traced back to one Harold Eugene Egerton in 1932 and he is the one responsible for the revolution in motion capture photography. The use of strobe lights on vehicles goes back some time and most of us will recognize the single rotating strobe beacon light on older police, fire and medical vehicles. The strobe light is still used today although it is gradually being ...
... replaced by LED versions of the light.

The strobe light has been a part of emergency vehicle history for some time. Emergency vehicle lighting dates back to the 1930's when the strobe lights were first fitted to vehicles. The strobe is very visible and it attracted the attention of other road users who would be aware that a vehicle was approaching or stopped at the roadside. Whilst most emergency or first response vehicles now have LED lightbars, visor lights, tail LED lights and dash lights the strobe is still incredibly popular. Anything that has been in constant use for over 80 years has to be effective at what it does.

Strobe light units are often built into the modern lightbar units and that is a testament to how effective they are at warning of danger and hazard. A slowly rotating strobe is instantly recognizable as a sign that something is wrong and that is why they are still used today. A vehicle with all lights flashing at a scene can sometimes be a distraction and recent research shows in these situations less is more. A strobe light conveys the message of emergency like no other light and certainly volunteer or temporary first responders often just have a single strobe beacon on their vehicle.

A variety of different lights on a vehicle can be very effective; the flashing lightbar with siren wailing can move traffic. A bank of flashing lights can warn of a vehicles approach so you can act accordingly and move over or slow down. A single strobe at a road traffic accident is highly visible and will not act as distraction or blind other road users. Strobe lighting will be with us for some time yet as it is very good at what it's employed to do and that is warn and inform. Used with lightbars, traffic advisors and light board's the strobe gives powerful light that can be seen in poor conditions and that can save lives.

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