16th March 2016

Research has shown that imperceptible light flicker can cause headaches, eyestrain, general body weakness and a decrease in productivity.

While we all know the health hazards of exposure to lights with visible flickering – particularly for people prone to seizures – what many of us don’t know is that long-term exposure to lights with imperceptible flicker can also be detrimental to our health.

Depending on the individual, flicker becomes invisible at around 100-160Hz. This is because the flashes in the light are so frequent that our retina resolves the modulation and the light is perceived as smooth and continuous.

To avoid lights with invisible flicker and the negative impact they can have on your health, we recommend testing your lights instore before purchasing them.

To test the flicker rate of the light, simply hold your phone's video camera up to the light while it's on. If the light has a high flicker rate, you will see bars, stripes or flickering through the camera.

Above is footage of our recently released D900 Classic next to a standard LED equivalent that was taken on an iPhone.

As you can see, the D900 Classic provides continuous, pulse-free illumination, whereas the competitor’s product beside it has a consistent flicker.

Although to the naked eye both luminaires appear flicker-free, the shutter speed and frame rate of the phone’s camera captures different fractions of the exceptionally fast light pulses that occur with the standard LED.

The flicker-free performance of the D900 Classic can be attributed to its new, custom-designed Gen3 digital driver. In addition to eliminating invisible flicker, Gen3 drivers provide unparalleled compatibility and performance with home automation systems and dimmers. 

Learn more about the Gen3 driver. 

Check out the third-generation of our award-winning D900 Classic.