We are all familiar with the snap-on phenomenon of inexpensive TRIAC dimmers that are often used to control incandescent lamps –turn the pot until the light comes (snaps) on and then reduce the ...

One of the biggest challenges for new, energy-efficient CFL and LED-based lights that will replace incandescents is working with existing triac-based dimmer switches. Triac dimmers vary widely in both ...

To understand the technology associated with practical LED dimming we first have to look at the technology associated with triac-based incandescent lamp dimmers. The typical triac lamp dimmer circuit ...

The LM3445 from National Semiconductor enables a full 100:1 range of offline, uniform, flicker-free dimming for high-brightness LEDs with a conventional TRIAC forward or reverse phase-control wall ...

We see a lot of traffic on the tips line with projects that cover old ground but do so in an instructive way, giving us insight into the basics of electronics. Sure, commercial versions of this ...