Metal halide or mercury or sodium lighting? have to attain one of the following to light up a courtyard...

have to attain one of the following to light up a courtyard whats the differance or which is better
If it's to provide some sort of wellbeing, go for sodium as it's cheap to run and the bulbs second for about 6 years of more, you can procure them with crack of dawn to dusk automatic switching, and this saves you switching on at dark and off contained by the morning, and saves even more electricity, I hold one in my drive and it have a good spread of neutral, as I have a tremendously long driveway, and it's perfect. I use the 70w type and It's bright plenty, get one that uses internal an igniter for facility of use. On the bulb there should be a printed triangle near a 'I' in the middle this is an internal bulb. 70w is smaller number than the average bedside lamp.


sodium gives a crappy yellowish redish pallid so all colours show up chance,but its cheap to run.

Halide dearer to buy and run but gives white night light and everything looks better say if you are lighting up sports car sales courtyard then run for halide, if just to permit the dog see where to crap use sodium
Answers:    As far as color goes, metal halide have the best CRI (color rendition index) value. This technique that colors appear more true under metal halide than other reading light sources. High pressure sodium has a lower CRI attraction. Colors appear less true and more surrounded by the orange-red spectrum. Mercury vapor has impressively low CRI and everything appears monochrome. However, of the three, high pressure sodium is most simplified. It has the most lumen output per watt. The sound out is, do you want more light for what you salary for or do you want the best light ability?