Is LED neon now also real neon?
Some claim it's a scam when we call our signs LED neon signs. They do this because LED neon is a material that simulates old-fashioned gas neon, but does it in a more durable and cheaper way.
What is real neon then? Neon is actually an element, and is the 10th element in the periodic table. Under certain conditions, Neon, also called a noble gas, will emit a red/orange light. This is what you see in old-fashioned neon tubes, where you then add other gases to make other colours appear. For example, argon and mercury are included in the ultraviolet light also seen in neon tubes. All this was invented around 1910, and was widely used around the world as early as 1920.
It was the classic neon. Fast forward to the 1960s when LED lights were invented. LED stands for light-emitting diode or just diode lights. In the version used nowadays, and also in the signs from Neonful, the LED light is wrapped in a flexible tube or wire called neonflex.
Neonflex is available in a wide range of colours, and the cord can be white or coloured when not switched on. There is also a version that allows you to switch between all neon colours with your remote control. This version is called RGB neon.
So to get back to the question in the headline, whether LED neon is real neon, the answer is NO.
LED neon is not really neon in the classical sense. You could say it's a much newer technology that gives us a cool neon look, where it's just much cheaper to produce, much cheaper to have lit, and it's also a more durable product. At Neonful, we're clearly ahead of the game, but we actually see nothing but great benefits from the "new" product of the 60s.
Now it's common knowledge with LED lights and also LED neon, and we do what we can to always refer to our signs as LED neon, because we really don't want our customers to think it's the old-fashioned gas art technology we work with. We don't think it's misleading, but indicative and accurate. There is simply no other covering name for LED neon than just... LED neon :)
