To lighten up EL-panels special driver circuits are needed, often called inverter, transducer or converter.

They build up the necessary AC voltages and appropriate frequencies. Basically 2 different types of inverter exist: The common classic EL-inverter and the less known and small electronic EL-inverter.

The classic EL-inverter are mostly a little noisy humming blocks and are made of a transistorized circuit driving a coiled transducer at 400 to 600 Hz. The efficiency is low, but therefore they are cheap.

The electronic EL-inverter impress with a high efficiency and nearly no humming noise at all and last not least very small dimensions. They are the ideal partners for the flat EL-panels, but they have their price.