As is known to many, neon light is the type of light ubiquitously used for advertising purposes as they are colorful and can lure and arrest the attention of all the passers-by. These neon signs are manufactured using long, narrow glass tubes that are capable of being bent into different shapes to form eye-catchy designs and also the alphabets.

A fluorescent light is the type of light most commonly used in all commercial buildings, shopping centers and residences to create white. The fluorescent lights have utility value as they serve to dispel darkness during nights. These are usually straight tubes and available in lengths of 2 feet and 4 feet and in diameters of 1 or 1 1/2 inch.

In view of this, fluorescent lights have a much wider range of applications and cost less. The neon lights are costlier and are primarily used for decoration and publicity purposes.

The technology behind neon lights is nothing complicated. The glass tube is filled with a gas like neon, argon or krypton at low pressure. These gases are neutral or at times negative in character and as such, they do not turn volatile when charged by an electrical current. Metal electrodes are placed at both ends of the tube. When a high voltage is applied to the electrodes, the neon gas naturally ionizes and the electrons flow through the gas.

These electrons activate the neon atoms and trigger them to emit light. Neon emits red light while the other gases emit different colors. Argon, xenon, krypton and other types of gases are used in varying quantities to produce different colors. As a result, neon lights radiate bright reds, blue, green and other eye-catchy colors.

The technology used for fluorescent lights are similar to neon lights but inside a fluorescent light, a low-pressure mercury vapor is introduced. The gas used in fluorescent lights has nil neon. It more uses a combination of argon and a small amount of mercury to create energy. When ionized, the mercury vapor inside emits ultraviolet light.

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

Succinctly stated, both neon tubes as well as fluorescent tubes use low pressure, 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 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.