One of the biggest challenges for new, energy-efficient CFL and LED-based lights that will replace incandescents is working with existing triac-based dimmer switches. Triac dimmers vary widely in both ...

Several different technologies and designs are available among solid-state switches today. The major families are the standard Triacs (triode for alternating current), the snubberless Triacs, and the ...

The LM3445 from National Semiconductor enables a full 100:1 range of offline, uniform, flicker-free dimming for high-brightness LEDs with a conventional TRIAC forward or reverse phase-control wall ...

Pre-regulators at the input of power supplies minimize losses. This version uses optical feedback from an LED and light-dependent resistor instead of the more common optically isolated TRIACs. Fig 1.