Editing Neon sign (section)

{{Short description|Electrified, luminous tube lights}}
[[File:StateTheaterAuburnCA.jpg|thumb|upright|1936 neon marquee sign for a theater in [[Auburn, California]], as rebuilt in 2006. The large letters on the tower are illuminated in a timed sequence that repeats, "S", "ST", "STA", "STAT", "STATE", off. |alt=Photograph of a large, elaborate neon sign at night. The word "STATE" is written vertically in red neon tubing on a tower above a marquee. The marquee sign proper below the tower also has an elaborate neon tubing design, including the word "STATE" written horizontally in red neon tubing above each of the two panels facing the camera. A reader board on the front-facing panel has black lettering that says "AUBURN PLACER/PERFORMING ARTS/CENTER/LIVE FROM AUBURN.COM". A second reader board on a side panel says "LIVE ACOUSTIC MUSIC//THE MITGARDS/IN CONCERT APRIL 26".]]

In the [[signage]] industry, '''neon signs''' are electric signs lighted by long luminous [[gas-discharge tube]]s that contain rarefied [[neon]] or other gases<!--not inert; Hg is not an inert gas-->. They are the most common use for [[neon lighting]],<ref>{{Cite book |last=Experts |first=EduGorilla Prep |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6nncEAAAQBAJ&dq=They+are+the+most+common+use+for+neon+lighting,&pg=PA99 |title=RRB JE ME CBT-1 : Mechanical & Allied Engineering Exam Book 2023 (English Edition) {{!}} Computer Based Test {{!}} 15 Practice Tests (1500 Solved MCQs) |date=2023-09-12 |publisher=EduGorilla Community Pvt. Ltd. |isbn=978-93-90332-73-1 |pages=99 |language=en}}</ref> which was first demonstrated in a modern form in December 1910 by [[Georges Claude]] at the [[Paris Motor Show]].<ref name=vanDulken>{{cite book |title=Inventing the 20th century: 100 inventions that shaped the world : from the airplane to the zipper |last=van Dulken |first=Stephen |page=42 |publisher=New York University Press |year=2001 |isbn=978-0-8147-8812-7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aVHRRoQvW60C&pg=PA42 |quote=The first commercial use was at a motor show in Paris in December 1910}}</ref> 

While they are used worldwide, neon signs were popular in the United States from about the 1920s to 1950s.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-03-30 |title=The Golden Age of Neon |url=https://northamericansigns.com/golden-age-neon/ |access-date=2025-04-01 |website=North American Signs |language=en-US}}</ref> The installations in [[Times Square]], many originally designed by [[Douglas Leigh]], were famed, and there were nearly 2,000 small shops producing neon signs by 1940.<ref name="Stern">{{cite book |last=Stern |first=Rudi |title=The New Let There Be Neon |year=1988 |isbn=978-0-8109-1299-1 |publisher=H. N. Abrams |pages=16–33}}</ref><ref name="Bright">{{cite book |title=The Electric-Lamp Industry |year=1949 | last=Bright | first=Arthur A. Jr. |publisher=MacMillan }} Pages 221–223 describe Moore tubes. Pages 369–374 describe neon tube lighting. Page 385 discusses Risler's contributions to fluorescent coatings in the 1920s. Pages 388–391 discuss the development of the commercial fluorescent at General Electric in the 1930s.</ref> In addition to signage, neon lighting is used frequently by [[artists]] and [[architects]],<ref name="Stern" /><ref name="Popper">{{cite web |last=Popper |first=Frank |author-link=Frank Popper |title=Neon |year=2009 |work=[[Grove Art Online]] |publisher=Oxford University Press |url=http://www.moma.org/collection/details.php?theme_id=10130 }}</ref><ref name="Thielen">{{cite journal |last=Thielen |first=Marcus |title=Happy Birthday Neon! |journal=Signs of the Times |date=August 2005 |url=http://www.signmuseum.net/histories/happybirthdayneon.asp|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120303060143/http://www.signmuseum.org/histories/happybirthdayneon.asp|archive-date=2012-03-03}}</ref> and (in a modified form) in [[Plasma display|plasma display panels and televisions]].<ref name="Myers">{{cite book |title=Display interfaces: fundamentals and standards |last1=Myers |first1=Robert L. |publisher=John Wiley and Sons |year=2002 |pages=69–71 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ilHvFwoAZDMC&pg=PA69 |isbn=978-0-471-49946-6 |quote=Plasma displays are closely related to the simple neon lamp.}}</ref><ref name="Weber">{{cite journal |last=Weber |first=Larry F. |author-link=Larry F. Weber |journal=IEEE Transactions on Plasma Science |volume=34 |issue=2 |date=April 2006  |pages=268–278 |doi=10.1109/TPS.2006.872440 |title=History of the plasma display panel |bibcode=2006ITPS...34..268W|s2cid=20290119 }} Paid access.</ref> The signage industry has declined in the past several decades, and cities are now concerned with preserving and restoring their antique neon signs.

[[Light emitting diode]] arrays can be formed and covered with a light diffuser to simulate the appearance of neon lamps.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Kercher |first1=Eric M. |last2=Zhang |first2=Kai |last3=Waguespack |first3=Matt |last4=Lang |first4=Ryan T. |last5=Olmos |first5=Alejandro |last6=Spring |first6=Bryan Q. |date=2020-06-01 |title=High-power light-emitting diode array design and assembly for practical photodynamic therapy research |journal=Journal of Biomedical Optics |volume=25 |issue=6 |pages=1–13 |doi=10.1117/1.JBO.25.6.063811 |issn=1083-3668 |pmc=7156854 |pmid=32297489|bibcode=2020JBO....25f3811K }}</ref>