Sharp redefines white light

While having my house renovated I am learning there are many shades of white.

Just try getting some white paint at the local do-it-yourself shop and you will see what I mean.

You want brilliant white, eggshell white, a clean white or a pure white? (I don't know, I just want some white paint.) You want the white of notebook paper or the white of ice cream?

Sharp of Japan, which is trying to break into the residential light bulb market, understands this, so one of the big innovations in its new line of bulbs is that you can adjust them for up to 7 different shades of white.

Starting in Japan, users will get a little remote control they can use to adjust the color of their white light on the new high-end DL-L60AV bulbs.

The new bulbs also last a lot longer than other bulbs and use a lot less energy. Gizmodo says they also emit almost no light in the ultraviolet range mosquitoes like.

The equivalent of a 60 watt bulb can be used for six hours at an energy cost of just one cent. (That's based on a cost of 22 cents per kilowatt-hour, close to what Georgia Power dismissively called recently the high cost of solar generation.)

Of course, it will cost you. Try $40 per bulb, over $80 for the fancy one with the remote control. And it's only being introduced in Japan to start.

Gives me time to get my white pallette together. (The bulb shown is tuned to the white of a vanilla ice cream cone. Uhh-h-h-h, ice cream.)

This post was originally published on Smartplanet.com