Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2015 June 5

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June 5

What are these gallery lights?

Often in museums or department store showcases, I see these small lights that are often mounted on a rail. They are shined directly at the displayed object and give a very nice, focused, and pleasing light.

This is an example: http://www.artwalkravenswood.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/electrical-gallery-lighting.jpg

Does anyone know what these lights are called? Up close, these light bulbs sort of have a prism on the surface, similar to the eye of a housefly. It's like a multifaceted prism.

Doing some research, the closest I got are "MR16" or "GU10" light bulbs? Is this the correct type? In terms of energy consumption, how do these compare to a 60W incandescent? Thanks. Acceptable (talk) 01:18, 5 June 2015 (UTC)

Track lighting is the general term but the voltages, wattage, type and style of bulb varies widely. Rmhermen (talk) 04:11, 5 June 2015 (UTC)

My apologies for not being specific, I was actually referring to what the type of lightbulbs are usually found in those lights. Acceptable (talk) 05:26, 5 June 2015 (UTC)

Do you mean bulbs like these? They are probably a bit smaller than the ones you are talking about and will also work in recessed lighting. CambridgeBayWeather, Uqaqtuq (talk), Sunasuttuq 12:44, 5 June 2015 (UTC)

(e/c) Your description of the bulb probably indicates a halogen lamp. It could get used pretty much anywhere (it's just there as a reflector), but I usually see them only in halogens. Matt Deres (talk) 13:32, 5 June 2015 (UTC)

Yeah, I think most of them are halogen, but they have that multifaceted/housefly eye appearance on the covering. Is there a specific name for them? Because halogen bulbs can also be in the shape of a regular A19 bulb. Thanks. Acceptable (talk) 17:43, 5 June 2015 (UTC)

I think the "fly eye" you're seeing is some variation on a lenticular lens, similar to that seen on this spotlight [1]. I think the lamps in your photo light a conical region, in contrast to an (almost) omnidirectional A19 bulb. Directional lamps seems to commonly use some type of lenticular lens. So, if you want that effect, seach for /spotlight bulb/ and similar variations [2]. They seem to mostly be LED or Halogen, with the Halogen being more likely to have the fly-eye look, while the LED have even more variation in their weird lenses, probably stemming from the highly variable numbers of LEDs an their placement within the lamp. SemanticMantis (talk) 19:29, 5 June 2015 (UTC)

• @Acceptable: Considering type and size, those "MR16" or "GU10" are definitely not what you're looking for. That kind of track lighting doesn't vary much by brand or else (the fixture in your pic is the most common one), thus I'm certain about it being the following or at least the same setup:
  This 120 Volt track and fixture fitted with one of those halogen bulbs. Either the "narrow spot beam" or maybe the "narrow flood beam" but for sure not the "wide flood beam". Don't believe they're LEDs but incandence is a possibillity.
  BTW, low voltage lighting in those tracks is usually accomplished by combining transformer and fixture. This way tracks achieve more setup flexibility which is the main reason to use them in the first place.
  Hope that helped.--TMCk (talk) 23:35, 9 June 2015 (UTC)

Thanks for the link, they certainly do look like the ones I had in mind. Are the ones I posted just scaled-down versions of the ones you posted? ie. do they throw the same quality of light? Thanks. Acceptable (talk) 00:48, 10 June 2015 (UTC)

Bus Routes

As you may or may not know, many London bus routes have their own articles, like London Buses Route 1. What I Propose is that I can create articles in this style for the local bus company who operates around my area and possibly other bus companies. Would these articles be notable under wp:n? Pablothepenguin (talk) 22:11, 5 June 2015 (UTC)

Notability is demonstrated through significant coverage in third-party reliable sources. I suggest you look for yourself to see if they exist. AndyTheGrump (talk) 22:16, 5 June 2015 (UTC)

Just a personal observation: I've seen a whole lot of articles on individual bus routes be deleted after being taken to WP:AFD. Deor (talk) 00:51, 6 June 2015 (UTC)