GAS DISCHARGE LAMP DRIVER AND METHOD

摘要

A gas discharge lamp driver and method including a driver (1) for a gas discharge lamp (2) having driver output terminals (3; 4); a lamp current generating section (10) operable to generate a low frequency voltage from a DC voltage, the low frequency voltage alone being insufficient to prevent the gas discharge lamp (2) from extinguishing in a takeover stage; a high frequency section (20) comprising a waveform generator (21) operable to generate high frequency voltage; and a coupling device (40) operable to add the high frequency voltage to the low frequency voltage. The high frequency section (20) is operable in an ignition stage to generate ignition pulses; and the high frequency section (20) is further operable in the takeover stage to generate the high frequency voltage sufficient to prevent the gas discharge lamp (2) from extinguishing in the takeover stage.