25th August 2015

For most experienced lighting designers, glare is a key consideration when setting out to create ambient and comfortable interior lighting schemes.

Best described as an excessively bright light spill, glare can cause discomfort, and in some cases even temporary visual impairment. Glare can be classified as anything from the dazzling shock you experience when you walk from a dark room into the midday sun, to a distracting glint that is visible out of the corner of your eye that prevents you from focusing on what’s in front of you.

No matter what form it comes in, we can all agree that glare is unpleasant.

At Brightgreen, we have been focusing on minimising glare through more considered product design. Because glare only occurs when a light source is in the viewer’s direct line of sight, the lens of our new D700+ is recessed deep into its body. Its deep recessed design, in combination with the product's smooth, directional beam, reduces the light spill and glare common in diffused LED alternatives. 

As part of our research and testing for the new D700+, we simulated its glare levels and compared the results to Inlite’s LL-9035-W LED downlight. The occurrence of glare was measured by calculating the light output of each of the LEDs within the exact same scenario.

To do this, we used a metric called Unified Glare Rating (UGR). UGR is used to measure glare in any given space by incorporating: the level of background luminance, the sum of light luminance, the angle of the viewer’s line of sight and the viewer’s position index. UGR levels range from UGR 10 (minute glare) to UGR 30 (excruciating glare). According to the Australian Standards (AS/NZS 1680.1:2006, p.44), discomfort glare occurs with UGR levels above 19.

Our simulations showed that Inlite’s product created a URG of 19.3, whereas in the same space, the D700+ created an optimal UGR level of no higher than 10. This means that thanks to the low-glare design of the D700+, homeowners can almost halve the UGR of their interior—effectively doubling the visual comfort experienced in their space!

Be sure to stay tuned for the upcoming release of the D700+, our deepest-recessed, lowest-glare design yet. 

Download the white paper.

Read last week's post on Lighting Design & Human Nature.