I've come across images from a chandelier by Mathieu Lehanneur for Chateau Borely. Even after looking at it quite for a while and going through everything I've ever seen, I couldn't really imagine what light source/bulb (I don't know the English word) this is. After reading the article on Dezeen, I saw that it's
Glass tubes containing strips of LEDs
and at the end of the article
LEDs, tubes of borosilicate glass, luminous control system.
It's hard to imagine how a glowing tube could be made out of LEDs as those are single/point light sources. How would this be build/made?
Images and copyright notices can be found on Dezeens original article.
Best Answer
There is also something called El-Wire. It is a flexible cable that is fluorescent. It can be powered of batteries and is popular on clothes, like dancers - But the applications are endless for this glow wire.
I bought 10 metres of this and it is really funky stuff. I bought really thin el wire for christmas decorations but you get various thickness.
Explanation
El wire is quite different from standard lighting. What makes it work is high frequency alternating currents and not really the input voltage. I have read that powering it up directly from 110vac or 220vac will light them up but it will be dimm because its on 50/60hz.
The general standard indicates that the transformer box you get with it steps up (or down) to somewhere between 90~120vac at 1000 Hertz - You can get transformers that can even power a few hundred feet by a AA battery up to several days. This high frequency is what excites the phosphor coating and causes it emits light.
Regulating the frequency makes it brighter or dimmer. The input voltage also makes it brighter or dimmer but too much or too little voltage will deplete the phosphorus layer quicker. Unlike LED's el wire will eventually burn out and become really dimm.