i have a lps fixture thats 55 watt but looks like almost any other ballast i have seen thx guys for any help.

With what I've seen, HPS ballasts have a relatively low output voltage...around 150 volts...and they need an igniter that pulses a couple thousand volts to start the lamp. Also, they operate at a higher lamp current than other HID ballasts for a given wattage.

I don't know much about LPS, but I checked the website for Advance Transformer and their 55 watt SOX ballasts have an output voltage of 480v and don't use igniter or cap for starting. Apparently, the open voltage is high enough to start the lamp by itself. The cap is only for power factor correction. The European SOX ballasts might be a little different since they operate on 230v and seem to use a choke ballast and a cap for starting at the lower (230v) open voltage. That's about all I know.

some modern european SOX gear use ignitors and a SOX ballast which is identical to a normal series choke (actually same thing!) but it also has an ignitor to strike up a lamp. Not avaliable for over 90w SOX, though.