MASTERColour CDM lamps need gear to ignite the lamp and to control the current supplied to the lamp. The gear can be fully electronic, with all components integrated in one ballast, or conventional. Conventional gear consists of a copper/iron inductor to control the current, an igniter for starting the lamp, and a capacitor to make the current and voltage change polarity simultaneously i.e. power factor correction.
Ballasts are hardware devices used with fluorescent/HID Lamps to give a high starting voltage to these devices and once the lamp is ignited, the ballast offers optimal voltage and current to the lamp for continuous light output. Traditional ballasts are inductive loads, very heavy in weight, produce a humming sound, have poor power factor and also called magnetic ballast. Lighting capacitors are used with these inductive ballasts to improve the power factor.