Today, Christmas tree can be found with fiber optic lighting and pre decorated with Christmas balls

Most people are familiar with fiber optics because of its use in the telecommunication industry. Fiber optic cables can be used to transmit huge amounts of data at literally the speed of light. Fewer people, however, are aware of the use of fiberoptic cable in decoration. Because it is a transparent cable that carries light, it can be used in lighting.

When my wife first suggested a prelit artificial Christmas tree, I was pretty skeptical. I had always used a real Douglas fir tree when I was growing up, and I did not expect much from a plastic tree. I figured that it would be something pretty fake looking, strung with large, awkward lights. I did not really understand at that point how far the fiber optics Christmas tree had come.

If you have never seen the realism of fiber optics Christmas trees before, you will probably be pretty startled when you first do. A fiber optics Christmas tree is anything but fake looking or awkward. Don't get me wrong - it does not look quite the same as a real tree. Your average fiber optics Christmas tree is smaller for one thing, and it will not have the same scent. Nonetheless, beyond that the likeness can get pretty startling.

The great thing about a fiber optic Christmas tree is that all of the lighting is built in to begin with. Rather than being strung around it, as with a convention Christmas tree, the lights are actually built into it. They are needle thick and delicate, and can be programmed to flash in a wide variety of different colors and at different rates. The effect can be quite stunning. Although fiber optics Christmas trees do not have the grandeur that regular trees do, they have a certain style all their own.

When you are picking out a fiber optics Christmas tree, be sure to take a close look at it if you can. Your average Christmas supply store will usually have display models of all of the prelit Christmas trees there for your perusal. It is important to look, because not every fiber optics Christmas tree is the same. Some of them have a pretty fake look, while other ones are much more realistic. Some of them have pretty uninteresting lights, while other ones sparkle in a variety of different ways. It is up to you to choose the right one.