Product Code Database
Black light paint or black light fluorescent paint is luminous paint that glows under a black light. It is based on that respond to light in the ultraviolet segment of the electromagnetic spectrum. The paint may or may not be colorful under ordinary light. Black light paint should not be confused with Phosphorescence (glow-in-the-dark) or daylight fluorescent paint.
The brothers founded the Fluor-S-Art Company, later named Day-Glo Color Corp., to develop and sell their products. Day-Glo is a registered trademark of the Day-Glo Color Corporation. The first commercial uses of black light fluorescent paints were for store displays and movie theaters. During World War II, black light fluorescent paints were used on U.S. naval carriers to allow planes to land at night.
Other common usage of the black light pigments is in security features of money notes, various certificates printed on paper, meal coupons, tickets and similar things that represent a value (monetary or otherwise). The black light printed figures used for this purpose are usually invisible under normal lighting, even when they are exposed to direct sunlight (which contains ultraviolet light) but they show up glowing when exposed to black light source. This defeats simple and inexpensive attempts to counterfeit them by scanning the original using a high resolution scanner and printing them using an inexpensive high resolution printer (most if not all inexpensive printers do not allow using black light inks for printing) and no special equipment is needed to verify the presence and correctness of this feature (an inexpensive black light source being all that is required). Some coupons and tickets use colorful black light inks.
On many German locomotives the control panel labels were printed with black light paint and a black light source was provided in the cab. This left the driver with full night vision while still enabling him to distinguish between the different switches and levers to operate his locomotive.
Black light paints are sometimes used in the scenery of amusement park : a black light illuminates the vivid colors of the scenery, while the vehicle and other passengers remain dimly lit or barely visible. This can enhance the effect of being in a fantasy world.
Black light paints may be fluorescent or, more rarely, Phosphorescence, containing a phosphor that continues to glow for a time after the black light has been removed. Black light paint can be mixed with similar shades of normal pigments, ‘brightening’ them when viewed in sunlight.
|
|
