TheEvaluationof

Flickerin
LEDLuminaires
MichaelGrather,President
LuminaireTestingLaboratory,Inc.
mike@LuminaireTesting.com

TheEvaluationofFlickerinLEDLuminaires

Flicker Introduction
Flickeristheperiodicchangeintheinstantaneous
lightoutputofalightsource.
Inmostconventionallightsourcesdrivenbyline
current,thefrequencyoftheflickeristwotimesthe
frequencyofthelinecurrent.
Theincreaseduseofhighfrequencyelectronic
ballastshasgreatlydecreasedtheamountofflicker
presentintheindoorenvironment.

TheEvaluationofFlickerinLEDLuminaires

Whyisflickeraproblem?
1)Peoplearenoticingit
Peoplehavetheirownwaysoflookingforit.
FlickerFusionFrequencyinhumansis~16Hz
Fastmovementcausesflickertobecome
moreobvious Thestroboscopiceffect,
Phantomarrays,Ghostimages.

TheEvaluationofFlickerinLEDLuminaires

Whyisflickeraproblem?
2)Ithasaneffectonpeople
Theydontnecessarilynoticetheflicker
Migraines Wilkins,etal,1988studylinking
headachesandeyestraintoflicker.
Nausea(motionsickness)
Womenmoresensitivetoflickerthanmen,
youngerpeoplemorethanolder.(Rubenstein,
1992)

TheEvaluationofFlickerinLEDLuminaires

Whyisflickeraproblem?
3)Certainapplicationsmaybemoresensitive

Roadway
Sportslighting
Lightingforvideoapplications
IndustrialApplications

TheEvaluationofFlickerinLEDLuminaires

Whyisflickeraproblem?
4)Itcontributestothegeneralperceptionofthe
technology
IfmostLEDsexhibitflicker,thepublicwillmostlikely
decidethatallLEDsflicker.
EnergyStarrequirementscurrentlyonlyaddressflicker
bythefrequencyofthedrivecurrent.
EnergyStarRequirementsforSolidStateLuminaires
(DOE)version1.1=>120Hz
EnergyStarRLFversion4.3=>120Hz

TheEvaluationofFlickerinLEDLuminaires

Whydoesflickerexistin
LEDLuminaires?

$$ DCPowerSupplyDesign(rippleonDC)
HighswitchingspeedofLEDs
DutyCyclevariationstocontrolpower
$$andefficiency insomecases,LEDscould
beusedasthediodesintherectifiercircuit.

TheEvaluationofFlickerinLEDLuminaires

Whydoesflickerexistin
LEDLuminaires?
HalfWaveRectifier
HalfWaveRectifier

FullWaveRectifier
FullWaveRectifier

TheEvaluationofFlickerinLEDLuminaires

WhataboutConventionalSources?
Yes,thereisflickerassociatedwith
conventionalsourcesandtherehasbeen
muchstudyonitseffects.
HighFrequencyBallasts(~20kHZ)
Persistenceofphosphorinfluorescentlamps
Flickerofconventionalsourcesdoesnot
typicallydropto0intensitywithinawaveform

TheEvaluationofFlickerinLEDLuminaires

Metricsforflickermeasurement
PST andPLT (shorttermandlongtermflicker)
DescribedinIEC61000415
Usesaflickermeter (describedinthestandard)
Generallyformeasurementofsubharmonicchanges
intheACwaveform
APST >1.0isconsideredunacceptableflicker(found
annoying)

TheEvaluationofFlickerinLEDLuminaires

Metricsforflickermeasurement

PercentFlicker
PercentFlicker=
100*(AB)/(A+B)

TheEvaluationofFlickerinLEDLuminaires

Metricsforflickermeasurement
PercentFlicker
DescribedinearlyversionsoftheIESNAHandbook
Percentmodulationoftheintensitywaveform
Rangeisfrom0%to100%
0%isapureDCwaveform
100%wouldoccurwhentherangeextendsto0light
outputatanytimeduringthewaveform
Doesnotincludeinformationaboutthedutycycle

TheEvaluationofFlickerinLEDLuminaires

Metricsforflickermeasurement

FlickerIndex
FlickerIndex=
Area1

Area1+Area2

TheEvaluationofFlickerinLEDLuminaires

Metricsforflickermeasurement
FlickerIndex
Relatestheareaunderthecurveabovetheaverage
lightintensitytotheareaunderthecurvebelowthe
averagelightintensity
Rangeisfrom0to1.0
0isapureDCwaveform
1.0canonlyoccurwiththemostdramaticchangesin
lightoutput
Includestheeffectsofdutycycle

TheEvaluationofFlickerinLEDLuminaires

Metricsforflickermeasurement

FlickerIndex
Vs
PercentFlicker
(fromIESNAHandbook
ReferenceVolume
1981)

TheEvaluationofFlickerinLEDLuminaires

BlockDiagramofTestSetup

TheEvaluationofFlickerinLEDLuminaires

IncandescentLamp(60Hz)
IncandescentLamp(60Hz)
Frequency:120Hz
Frequency:120Hz
Max:12.180
Max:12.180
Min:10.745
Min:10.745
Ave:11.460
Ave:11.460
PercentFlicker:6.2594
PercentFlicker:6.2594
FlickerIndex:0.0194
FlickerIndex:0.0194

TheEvaluationofFlickerinLEDLuminaires

100WMetalHalide(clear)
100WMetalHalide(clear)
Frequency:120Hz
Frequency:120Hz
Max:9.1472
Max:9.1472
Min:3.2066
Min:3.2066
Ave:6.5147
Ave:6.5147
PercentFlicker:48.088
PercentFlicker:48.088
FlickerIndex:0.1398
FlickerIndex:0.1398

TheEvaluationofFlickerinLEDLuminaires

T12LampwithMagneticBallast
T12LampwithMagneticBallast
Frequency:120Hz
Frequency:120Hz
Max:9.6281
Max:9.6281
Min:4.6256
Min:4.6256
Ave:11.460
Ave:11.460
PercentFlicker:35.096
PercentFlicker:35.096
FlickerIndex:0.0897
FlickerIndex:0.0897

TheEvaluationofFlickerinLEDLuminaires

T5HOwithHFElectronicBallast
T5HOwithHFElectronicBallast
Frequency:~100kHz
Frequency:~100kHz
Max:10.52
Max:10.52
Min:9.960
Min:9.960
Ave:10.20
Ave:10.20
PercentFlicker:2.734
PercentFlicker:2.734
FlickerIndex:0.0036
FlickerIndex:0.0036

TheEvaluationofFlickerinLEDLuminaires

LEDpoweredbyDCcurrent
LEDpoweredbyDCcurrent
Frequency:N/A
Frequency:N/A
Max:43.4
Max:43.4
Min:41.0
Min:41.0
Ave:42.2
Ave:42.2
PercentFlicker:2.84
PercentFlicker:2.84
FlickerIndex:0.0037
FlickerIndex:0.0037

TheEvaluationofFlickerinLEDLuminaires

LEDwithSignificantFlicker
LEDwithSignificantFlicker
Frequency:120Hz
Frequency:120Hz
Max:15.996
Max:15.996
Min:0.0555
Min:0.0555
Ave:6.3026
Ave:6.3026
PercentFlicker:99.309
PercentFlicker:99.309
FlickerIndex:0.4498
FlickerIndex:0.4498

TheEvaluationofFlickerinLEDLuminaires

TheEvaluationofFlickerinLEDLuminaires

Conclusions
FlickerFrequencyaloneisaninadequatemeasureof
flicker.
Morestudieswillbeneededtodevelopappropriate
thresholdsforflickermetrics.
FlickerfromLEDluminairescanbemuchmore
significantthanflickerfromconventionalsources.
TheFlickerIndexmetricisausefultoolforevaluating
boththepercentmodulationanddutycycleofflicker
inalltypesoflightsources.

TheEvaluationofFlickerinLEDLuminaires

ThankYou!
MichaelGrather
mike@LuminaireTesting.com