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The inner side of a fluorescent light is coated with phosphor. As phosphor receives energy in one form it emits it back in the form of visible light. Fluorescent lights consume greater electrical current, but they produce the bright illumination needed for many different applications.

 

Neon tubes as well as fluorescent tubes use low pressure and inert gas fill but the striking difference between fluorescent lights and neon lights is – the light from a fluorescent tube is the light emitted by the internal phosphor coating while the neon light sign is the colored light that the neon atoms send out directly. It can be said that neon lights use only one step whereas the fluorescent lights use two steps to produce light.

It is believed that Georges Claude, the French scientist, wanted neon to be implemented worldwide as a lighting system as he considered neon lights as lot more efficient than an incandescent bulb. But that did not happen and the fluorescent dominates the lighting system everywhere and neon lights continue to be used only for ornamental and other publicity purposes.