How it works, Inventors, all about the lamp. Has the best bright white light for sporting events and big arenas, areas, etc. Invented by Charles P. Steinmetz in 1912 this lamp wasn't fully ready for the market until the 1960s. It has a fused quartz arc tube where halide salts combine with mercury vapor to create its great quality light (CRI 90). It is also much more efficient than it's leading competitor: the halogen lamp. It was developed by engineers at the GE Research Lab in Schenectady, New York. (Niskayuna).