The 26-page “Neon Tube Manufacturing Manual,” produced by the technical committee of the All Japan Neon-sign Association (AJNA), was completed and delivered via postal service to all the members on July 31.

The creation of this manual was initiated by the "Manual Creation Working Group," which was established by the technical committee in 2004 in response to studies indicating that important causes of certain blackening phenomena of neon tubes, occurring in particular during the winter season, were to be found in the neon tube manufacturing processes themselves. This finding motivated the introduction of standardized guidelines for neon tube manufacturing methods.

The manual was created in close cooperation with Neon Tube Working Group of the Kanto Neon Sign Cooperative Association and upon referring to a wide array of reference materials including materials written in the US; it is expected to contribute significantly to the improvement of quality of neon tubes made in Japan.

As previously reported, the “Joint Comparative Study Work Group (WG) of Neon and LED," formed by the All Japan Neon-sign Association (AJNA) and the Japan LED Association (JLEDS), held its first meeting on July 24 (Tuesday). At the meeting, it was decided to first fabricate a number of actual sample signs employing neon tubes and LEDs and conduct experiments from various perspectives.

Currently, the WG has been examining the details of prototypes, experiment schedules, items to be investigated and so forth. The parties concerned are watching the development carefully, as they believe establishing objective scientific data is of considerable significance, in an industry where unreliable comparison data tend to spread freely.