If your light fixture is flickering, you might want to take a look at this.-Ptpower Electronic

Zhuhai Ptpower Electronic Technology Co., Ltd.

If your light fixture is flickering, you might want to take a look at this.

2024-12-17

Health lighting is receiving increasing attention, and businesses often promote "no blue light hazard" and "no flicker." So, what is flicker?

Q: What is flicker?

A: The light emitted by the light source varies over time with a certain frequency and period, changing between different brightness and colors as time changes. If the driver of the lamp does not have suitable electronic circuits, such as ballasts, drivers, or power supplies, the light source will produce flicker, and the greater the fluctuation in output luminous flux, the more severe the flicker.

Q: What is flicker related to?

A: It is related to both the power supply factors and the technical performance of the electric light source, as well as unreasonable lighting design factors. For many lighting fixtures, the working current of the light source inevitably fluctuates with the input voltage, directly leading to fluctuations in light output and causing flicker. For example, incandescent lamps are driven by 50 Hz AC mains, and the flicker frequency after superimposing the negative and positive half cycles is 100 Hz; gas discharge lamps with inductive ballasts also have their output light frequency fluctuate with the power supply frequency. Additionally, the instantaneous fluctuation amplitude of the power supply grid is between 10% and 20%, which exacerbates the light fluctuations of the lighting fixtures.

Not all flicker is harmful.

The flicker produced by lighting is annoying, but in life, there are also some "flickers" that we want.

1. The lights on ambulances, fire trucks, and police cars;

2. The wing indicator lights when an airplane lands;

3. Laser lights at concerts and bars;

4. In addition, LED lights that flicker at specific frequencies can help treat Alzheimer's disease.

Harmful flicker

However, many times, flicker can cause harm:

1. Low-frequency flickering light sources at 3-70Hz may trigger photosensitive epilepsy in some people;

2. Flickering light sources at 100Hz can lead to headaches and migraines;

3. Flickering light sources at 120Hz can affect a person's mood, causing annoyance and anxiety;

4. The visual illusions caused by flicker effects can also be very dangerous in industrial settings, etc.

Distinction of flicker levels

Currently, China has established relevant standards for flicker in lamps. According to the CQC1601-2016 "Certification Technical Specification for Visual Work Table Lamps" implemented on 2016/11/02, flicker should comply with the IEEE Std 1789-2015 standard of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.

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