Flashlamp drive circuit

A flashlamp drive circuit including a storage capacitor which is charged and selectively discharged in order to drive a flashlamp. A capacitor (116) is connected in parallel with each respective flashlamp (106) in a bank of flashlamps. Each capacitor (116) has a comparatively small capacitance so as to be capable of storing only a portion of the total energy pulse required to be delivered to the respective flashlamp (106). A controller, comprising a digital signal processor (118) and a microprocessor (120) is provided to control the operation of all of the flashlamps (106) in the bank via respective switch mechanisms (110). In use, each energy (or drive) pulse delivered to a flashlamp (106) is comprised of a plurality of smaller energy packets resulting from repeated charging and discharging of the respective capacitor (116). Thus, the shape and duration of the current pulses delivered to the flashlamp (106) is highly controllable and the size of the storage capacitor (116) required is significantly reduced relative to the prior art.