Phantom Lighting System

It is important to realize however, that any portrait or painting can never stand on its own. Every masterpiece requires the proper type of fine art lighting in order to be displayed with museum quality. Fine art lights are specifically designed for this person, and they differ greatly in size and luminance capacity from general lighting fixtures and purely utilitarian task lights. Fine art lights are manufactured in a wide range of fixture styles, lamping options, and material builds. These options range on the low end to simple battery powered cordless picture lights to ultra-sophisticated fine art lighting projectors. Efficiency ranges just as widely from the low end to the high end of the spectrum, and some fine art lighting fixtures are really should not be used at all other than general print lighting or photography lighting in public events. We will see why in the moment.

Why can we not hang paintings in windowed rooms and allow natural sunlight to illuminate fine art?
Because sunlight is the worst possible source of fine art lighting. In spite of the fat that it is the light we all live in daily, and the light by which we see the beauty and the many forms and colors of nature, sunlight contains an invisible enemies that can damage human skin if you stay out in the sun for too long—ultraviolet light. Reason tells us that if UV radiation can sunburn our skin, sensitive oils and canvases will suffer an even more severe outcome if they hang for any length of time in a beam of sunlight.

Infrared light is also part of the natural lighting spectrum, and although not as dangerous to humans as UV light, nevertheless has its own deleterious effects on canvas and oils. Infrared light waves are very hot and will dry out the oil and cause it to crack over time.

So what about the universal image of the Renaissance painter sitting by an Italian river, paintbrush in hand, as the sun streams down to light his canvas?

It makes for an excellent painting, provided it is kept out of the sun and showcased under fine art accent lighting fixtures design to preserve it in the annals of myth and symbol as a representative symbol of enlightenment and virtue…not the way painters of the time actually worked.

Do incandescent lamps make good fine art light sources?
Yes and no. For warm colors, such as red, orange, yellow, and brown, incandescent lamps are excellent sources. However, incandescent picture lights have the opposite effects on cooler colors such as blue, green, and violet. They appear flat with this type of illumination.

If you are new to fine art collecting, and you are looking to purchase fine art lights for the first time, we recommend you think twice about incandescent because they will more than likely be forced out by legislation just as they recently were in California.

Can energy saving fluorescent be used for fine art lighting?
We do not recommend this. While larger commercial fluorescent lights rank very high on the CRI (color rendering index), smaller lamps with internal ballasts render only a portion of the spectrum, making them unsuitable for the color palette. Even more serious is the fact that fluorescent produce ultraviolet rays just as the sun does, and they too will destroy any paintings they illuminate.

Is halogen lighting a good source for showcasing art?
Actually, it is the best. Halogen low voltage fixtures produce a strong white light, and they bring out many different colors across the color spectrum. New technology has invented low wattage based halogen bulbs, which deflect damaging UV and infrared rays. Halogen bulbs typically come in line voltage (120 V) and low voltage (12 V). This is why halogen lights are the favored lamping option for fine art projector lighting.

Phantom Fine Art Lighting Projectors
Phantom Contour Projectors feature ideal optics and photometric data for your fine art lighting needs. These projectors feature halogen light fixtures and produce a very unique quality of luminance called “the lighted from within effect.” Phantom fine are lighting projectors are easy to install and extremely versatile, because of their small, compact size and no exposed wiring.

This fine art illumination device incorporates a parabolic aluminized reflector or PAR (MR-16) 75-watt halogen based lamp in its design. These lamps were originally used for the fiber optic industry, where detailed light focusing is required. The typical rated life of this lamp is around 4000 hours, giving the enthusiast of exquisite paintings plenty of time to enjoy their precious piece, before having to replace the bulb. The SM or surface mount series is the ideal choice for any type of fine art lighting. This adjustable projector has a sleek design, which is unobtrusive and perfect for accenting brush stroke details, along with other vital elements of your paintings. The design of Phantom projector fixtures will ensure that your frames are pampered, so they are not damaged.

Call a Phantom Agent for more information on all of these options. We invite you to call toll free 800-863-1184 to request literature online or visit our lighting blog to learn more about Phantom custom low voltage lighting products.

Our lighting manufacturing facility is located in Houston, Texas with professional lighting sales agents located throughout the United States that enable us to service all of Canada, Mexico, Central America, South America and the United States including Washington DC, Nashville Tennessee, Las Vegas Nevada. Portland Oregon, Oklahoma City Oklahoma, Tucson Arizona, Los Angeles California, Atlanta Georgia, Dallas Texas and Sacramento California.

The best art should be shown in the best possible art light. While, lighting your artwork may present a challenge at first because there are so many art lighting fixtures and lamps for you to choose from, a basic understanding of the elements essential to high-end artwork and picture lighting will help you quickly narrow down your choices to a select few fixtures that embody several, or even all, of the elements that characterize the best lighting for art.

The Light Must Strike The Art at Exactly The Right Angle.
In order to understand just how critical angles are to lighting art, try the following experiment: Stand in front of any mirror in your home with a small flashlight and shine the flashlight directly into the mirror. You will instantly be struck by a bright, direct reflection, as the mirror actually magnifies the beam by scattering the photons when it reflects them back into your eyes.

Now, move to different angles, moving the flashlight in the process. When you can clearly see your own form without being blinding by the reflection of the flashlight, you have found be best angle for lighting yourself in the mirror.

The same accent lighting tools are used by designers to position fixtures at the best angles for lighting art. Any surface reflects light to some extent, and while it may not be as intense as a reflection in a mirror, it will nonetheless cause discomfort to viewers. This is especially the case when lighting high-end photography. Photographs have glossy surfaces and are often enclosed in glass frames. The best lighting angle for these forms of art is generally from a recessed position or track lighting installation. This causes the majority of reflected light to angle downward to the floor.

Invest in Low Voltage Equipment.
Low voltage fixtures more often than not provide the best lighting for artwork in museums and galleries. This is because of to several reasons. The first is cost. Low voltage lights consume far less power and can be left on for longer periods of time without exorbitant electricity bills. Low voltage lights also produce a less glaring luminance that is more radiant and ambient. It very difficult to achieve soft picture lighting or lighted from within special effects with line voltage equipment simply because there is too much luminance output striking the piece.

Finally, low-voltage lights are lower wattage and operate at lower temperatures than line voltage lights. This is another reason low-voltage fixtures tend typically produce the best lighting for art because they emit little if any forward throw heat that can dry out paints and cause them to crack over time.

Dimmable Fixtures Give You Greater Lighting Control.
Dimmable fixtures are generally the best art light to use in any display or exhibition. Each work of art is unique and conveys its own message through a subtle interplay of colors and the contrast between light and shadow. A fixed beam of bright light will either overemphasize light or dark elements or certain colors, or, even worse, throw reflected light back into the eyes. Dimmable accent lighting fixtures give you ultimate control over luminance levels so you can achieve the best results when lighting your art. Dimmer controls should always be easy to operate and allow you to make quick adjustments.

Make certain you invest in UV-filters or fixtures designed to filter UV light.
UV radiation is even more deadly to artwork than it is to human skin. It must be eliminated from any source of lighting, or your best art will soon deteriorate and be permanently lost to time. Almost all artwork lighting fixtures are equipped with some sort of mechanism to minimize UV output. However, the best art in your collection cannot afford any exposure to UV light and require the most sophisticated filtration technology possible to protect their integrity and beauty.

Phantom Contour Art Projectors Combine All of These Characteristics Into a Single Design.
Phantom projectors embody all the attributes that characterize the world’s best lights for art. They are low profile, low voltage light sources that conserve power, are extremely cost effective, and easy to angle and adjust. A Contour Projector install on the ceiling can be adjusted to fit the dimensions of a painting, photograph, or sculpture and produce illumination that appears to be more like an “aura” around the piece than a beam of light shooting toward it. We call this “the lighted from within” effect.

Phantom optical projector lights are simple to use and allow you to dim or raise lighting levels at will. The proprietary optical lens design also allows you to fit the beam to the dimensions of any work of art on display. Few people who visit your collection will ever see a Phantom projector, however, because it is smaller than competing models and hides itself either in or on the ceiling to angle an invisible beam of light downward onto the artwork which becomes visible only when it strikes the surface.

Most importantly, Phantom Contour projectors feature patented, sophisticated UV filters that completely strip the light of all ultraviolet radiation so it can safely light your best art with no negative effects resulting. Everyone from private collectors, commercial clients, and professional galleries can benefit from a Phantom Contour Projector, and they can also choose from any of six models that are specifically designed for different environments. A Phantom lighting agent can help you determine which model will work best for your art lighting needs.

A Toll-Free call to 1-800-863-1184 will connect you now with customer service to schedule a free consultation. We invite you to view our client image gallery or visit our art lighting blog.

As a fine art lighting manufacturer we always strive to improve our lighting equipment. At Phantom Lighting we always attend national trade shows, visit our specifiers and listen to feedback from our clients every chance we can get. We learn ways to solve problems our customers may have encountered on a job and use the constructive feedback to make our lighting fixtures better, easier to install and most importantly, user friendly. We occasionally get feedback on competitive products worth noting. So, when we hear a really good one, we like to pass it on to those who are considering using Phantom Lighting projectors.

I manage a large lighting showroom in Houston. I have always been reluctant to specify or furnish framing projectors to my customers because they are expensive and usually nothing but trouble. My lighting representative showed me the Phantom Contour Projector and just how easy it was to install over Wendelighting® optical projector or Laymance optical projectors, so I decided to use nine RM Series (remodel housings) on a retro-fit job. My installer was quite pleased with how easy the rough in process went, especially since no patching or painting was required. We trimmed out the projectors yesterday and I could not be more pleased. The ease and simplicity of the adjustable shutters makes this one of the most affordable and effective framing projectors on the market. I also used the custom template to light not only two works individually, but three on one wall. I plan to make Phantom Contour Projectors my standard for lighting fine art.

Phantom Lighting differentiates itself from all other recessed lighting manufacturers by engineering fine art lighting fixtures and low voltage display lighting products found nowhere else in the world. Phantom Lighting has earned a reputation as pioneers by developing patented technology that delivers precise measurements and variations of intensity from concealed lighting sources. No other art lighting manufacturer devotes the amount of time and energy that we invest in adapting our proprietary technology to the specific needs of each commercial and residential client. The Phantom Contour Projector has earned world-renowned acclaim for its ability to create the magical effect of “lighting art from within,” and our Phantom Strip Lighting series eliminates wiring by uniting near-invisible fixtures with display cases and shelving so as to fill the interior space with light that appears to emanate from all points at once. and art becomes light.

If you are interested in learning lighting techniques and/or more about the Phantom Lighting System please contact us at 800-863-1184. We can also reach us online using our contact us form.

We look forward to your call and the privilege of serving you!

Answers.com defines a Phantom as "Something apparently seen, heard, or sensed, but having no physical reality; a ghost or an apparition." We chose the word Phantom to illustrate the function and essence of our patented technology with an archetypal symbol whose universal appeal speaks to all ages and intrigues even the most analytical and skeptical of minds. Phantoms almost never appear as tangible forms to the viewer, but their activities and tangible presence is the stuff of both legend and documentary. On film they often appear as brilliant flashes of light that emanate from another dimension. Phantom projectors and strip lights produce light around artwork and within displays in much the same manner, making them the ghosts of the lighting machine that create magical effects and spatial fields of eminent light that appear sourceless and timeless.

In almost every mythology, a Phantom remains invisible, and if it is seen at all, it appears as a luminous aura that surrounds a place of significance. Legends often equate visitations to sacred locations or areas within an old mansion or castle where significant events occurred. Man has always placed special significance on certain places and events, and man has always recorded that significance either has history, myth, or some form of art. We developed our LED technology specifically to enhance art with a timeless and mythic sense of eternal lighting. We created fixtures that the eye cannot see and special photometric lenses that hide the beams of light radiating from bulbs and lamps. Just like the ghosts of legend and popular documentary, it is almost impossible to see a Phantom Projector or Strip Light, but you always see and feel the effects of its presence.

When you look at a painting illuminated by a Phantom Projector, you actually see a field of light surrounding both the picture and the frame. This effect is known as "lighting from within," and it adds a third dimension to any two dimensional artwork that creates a living presence around the canvas, oils, and ornately carved wooden frame. Private collectors of art and commercial art galleries alike concur that this is the best way to light a painting, as it eliminates the physical obtrusion of traditional picture lights and does away as well with a visible beam of light produced by standard projectors. The eternal nature of art is also best revealed in the preserving light of Phantom. Our technology filters all infrared and ultraviolet light from the beam prior to it touching the canvas. With a color-rendering index equivalent to natural light, but exponentially safer to use with delicate and antique paints and surfaces, Phantom brings the past into the present and extends it without harm or degradation into annals of continued, future fame. Phantom is much more than just a lighting manufacturer. We are lighting scientists.

Understanding the unique properties of light is what enabled us to develop our breakthrough patents in display and showcase lighting technology. Light is the only phenomenon in the Universe that fills a space without consuming space. By applying this absolute law of physics with a less-is-more approach to fixture design, Phantom developed a wireless strip light that conducts either low voltage or standard voltage signals safely and invisibly through metal shelf standards using LED lamps. The lighting strip hugs the surface so well it actually blends into its surroundings invisibly. Small, tiny lamps along the strip radiate light into the enclosed space, filling every cubic centimeter with a balanced luminosity that enshrouds and accents books, jewels, porcelain, ornate carvings, and photography; and adds beauty to the function and form of fine cabinetry and vaulted ceiling coves.

Mystique defines the essence of Phantom, bringing eclecticism, advanced technology, mystery, and sophistication into a synthesis of light that makes art become alive and life itself a work of art now made visible in a whole new light. Click here to read informative articles that contain a world of information on how to apply this revolution in both physics and aesthetics, and click here to learn more about the lighting technology itself.

Picture frame lighting is an exploding market with a variety of options available to today's home collector. When installed and wired correctly, contemporary and traditional picture frame lights accentuate the color, form, and style of fine artwork. New technology and specialty lighting for picture frames offer even more added value for paintings and for three-dimensional artwork. Phantom Lighting both provides knowledgeable insights into the best methods of picture frame lighting and the newest technology in art projectors that delivers even more options for aesthetics and custom-lighting schemes than ever before.

When purchasing picture frame lights, it is very important to consider total wattage output, voltage, and heat resultant from the lighting. Picture frame lights can damage fine works of art if they burn too hot and remove moisture from textiles and oil paints. Moisture loss in turn leads to cracking and deterioration that can both damage the look and longevity of the piece. Low voltage picture frame lights are usually the preferred choice among art collectors these days because of their small size and high level of output. However, they generate heat that can be a hazard to fine art. Choosing the right lights is therefore somewhat complicated, as heat is the main determining factor. Lighting design companies normally handle this for homeowners by installing switched outlets behind the art to conceal unsightly cords and to mount the fixtures properly on top of the frame. Picture frame lights also work well to illuminate library bookcases and other forms of art using direct mount wall attachments. However, the cost of special configuration can quickly add up if the modifications are anything more than basic.

With today's emerging technology in projector lighting, picture frame lights are quickly gaining the reputation as a low-cost alternative to more advanced and versatile lighting methods. However, the nuisance of bulb replacement is another variable many people neglect to factor into their daily lives. Tubular lamps commonly used in over the picture lights have a short lamp life of 1000 hours that can be that can be difficult to change or reach depending on the location of the art. When one compares the variable cost of labor, maintenance, and replacement to the fixed price of a single device that will do it all, it quickly becomes evident that Phantom Projectors, representing new and highly user-friendly technology, can outperform traditional picture frame lights and offer additional features no other lighting device deliver.

Phantom Lighting offers a number of Contour Projectors with multiple enclosures specifically designed for easy installation, multiple lighting settings, and special effects. Installed in ceilings above art collections, they are out of range of normal vision and for all practical purposes invisible to the viewing audience. With precise beam and illumination controls, they produce a magical luminescence that appears to come from within the art itself. This "lighting from within" effect adds a unique mystique and ambience to any artwork that partly inspired the name "Phantom." With easy to learn masking methods and multiple lens combinations, the Phantom Contour Projector can illuminate prints, photography, fine china collections and rare books, and priceless sculptures. For those who favor multiple genres and style, the Phantom is the most cost-effective and the most efficient investment to make, as it will fulfill traditional picture frame lighting requirements and add museum quality lighting effects to other forms of art - and even furniture and architecture - within the room.

Picture frame lights will always be with us and offer a specific, cost-effective benefit to a particular niche market. It is wise to strongly consider the Phantom Projector, however, when one considers a broader application with a fixed price point, greater longevity, and almost zero maintenance.

One of the unique features of the PHANTOM CONTOUR PROJECTOR is the universal rotating ring and fully adjustable mounting cradle inside all the different housings. Designed with the installer in mind, the heavy duty mounting assembly is the foundation for the contour projector making it a snap to install.

The universal rotating ring is constructed of .08 (#5052) heavy gauge aluminum and is adjustable and designed for a full 360 degree rotation with four positive locking phenolic thumb knobs to secure the projector into position. The special mounting cradle is also constructed of .08 (#5052) aluminum and has keyed anchoring slots and multiple pivoting positions for both vertical and horizontal applications up to 55 degrees. This locks the contour projector into position and allows the projector to be removed for servicing and cleaning.

Every detail of the Phantom contour projector has been refined so that you will get years of performance and enjoyment. More than just a light fixture, the Phantom contour projector delivers the mood and magic that you would only expect from quality accent lighting fixture. Click here to view a chart comparing contour projector to other projectors on the market today.

Feel free to call the art lighting specialists toll free at 800-863-1184 if you have any questions about Phantom lighting products, or to discuss which model is right for your application. Let them know what they can do to help- they have experienced technicians ready to share their knowledge about fine art lighting with you.

I am trying to calculate loads and select a transformer for a cove lighting job using your strip lights. I want to be sure that I am using the right size wire and fuses. Can you give me some pointers on what to do?

If you are not an electrician calculating wire size, amperage and fusing can be quite confusing. Let's take a look at calculating wire size first. All PHANTOM STRIP LIGHTS are fabricated with 16 gauge wire and have a maximum feed through capacity of 13.33 amps in a free air environment. In other words, it is not in a conduit with other wires that can entrap heat and affect the ampacity of the wire.

What amperage a wire can handle is decided by the wire size. Here are some examples:

Amperage is calculated by dividing the wattage by the voltage. So if you have 300 watts operating at 24 volts that equals 12.50 amps. So, for every 300 watts of lights you should install a home run wire from the low voltage festoon lighting strips back to the transformer.

Another wiring method would be to combine two 300 watt loads using a 10 gauge wire back to the transformer. The maximum size fuse on any PHANTOM TRANSFORMER is 25 amps. You might have several of these 25 amps circuit breakers depending on the size of the transformer. Refer to our transformer information page for more specific information and suggested wiring layouts.

To play it safe, ask the professionals at Phantom Lighting System to help design, specify and engineer your project. We are here to help and want your project to be safe and successful. It is always best when installing our lighting system to consult with a qualified electrician or handy man. Contact one of our lighting agents, call us toll free at 800-863-1184 or visit our lighting blog for more technical information or to just get some help with your order.

Phantom Lighting System is an original equipment manufacturer of FINE ART LIGHTING FIXTURES and LINEAR LIGHTING STRIPS.

See The Light - Not The Fixture!