LED Flicker: A Drawback or an Opportunity?

Spiros Kitsinelis, Lydie Arexis-Boisson, Yuan Zhang, Georges Zissis

Université de Toulouse, Toulouse, France.

DOI: 10.4236/opj.2013.31010                

Abstract

In this paper we examine the flicker of commercial LED lamps and with the help of volunteers we explore the parameter space (frequency and duty cycle) in order to find pulsing operating conditions under which the light fluctuations are not visually perceived. The results show that LEDs under mains voltage manifest the most extreme cases of flicker and we also confirm that under pulsing mode the overall impression is of higher brightness which is an opportunity for energy savings. The results also show that the background color and luminance contrast is of high importance. Finally we propose an easy method for consumers to detect flickering of light sources under mains voltage.

Keywords

Flicker; Pulse; LED

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

References

[1]	http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photosensitive_epilepsy
[2]	W. M. Hart Jr., “The Temporal Responsiveness of Vision,” In: R. A. Moses and W. M. Hart, Eds., Adler’s Physiology of the Eye, Clinical Application, The C. V. Mosby Company, St. Louis, 1987.
[3]	M. Jinno, K. Morita, Y. Tomita, Y. Toda and H. Motomura, “Beyond the Physical Limit: Energy Saving Lighting and Illumination by Using Repetitive Intense and Fast Pulsed Light Sources and the Effect on Human Eyes,” Journal of Light and Visual Environment, Vol. 32, No. 2, 2008, pp. 170-176. doi:10.2150/jlve.32.170
[4]	S. Kitsinelis, L. Arexis and G. Zissis, “A Study on the Flicker of Commercial Lamps,” Light and Engineering— Svetotechnika, Vol. 20, 2012, pp. 58-64,
[5]	S. M. Berman, D. S. Greenhouse, I. L. Bailey, R. Clear and T. W Raasch, “Human Electroretinogram Responses to Video Displays, Fluorescent Lighting and Other High Frequency Sources,” Optometry and Vision Science, Vol. 68, No. 8, 1990, pp. 645-662. doi:10.1097/00006324-199108000-00012