Flicker Comparison and Test Methods of Various Light Sources

Almost all types of lamps is easy to flicker, including incandescent lamps, halogen lamps, and even LED bulbs. But the effect of each light is different. For example, in incandescent and halogen lamps, the filament temperature responds slowly to changes in current, so you will not notice the effect of flicker. For current changes, the LED responds almost immediately, so the blinking will be more noticeable.

At present, the flicker index is commonly used to describe the flicker degree of the light source, the comprehensive flicker percentage and two other variables: light waveform and duty cycle. Among them, the flicker percentage is equal to the difference between the maximum light output and the minimum light output in one switching cycle divided by the sum of the maximum light output and the minimum light output . The lower the flicker percentage (fluctuation depth) and the flicker index, the less flicker or stroboscopic effect caused by the light source.

Type of light source	Flicker percentage	Flicker index
Incandescent lamp	6.3	0.02
T12 fluorescent tube	28.4	0.07
Spiral tube compact fluorescent lamp	7.7	0.02
Double U compact fluorescent lamp(Electric device)	37.0	0.11
Double U compact fluorescent lamp(Electronic ballast)	1.8	0.00
Metal halide lamp	52.2	0.16
HPS	95.0	0.30
DC LED	2.8	0.0037
Severe flicker LED	99.0	0.45

                                         Figure Flicker of different kinds of lamp

As can be seen from Figure, due to the use of inductive ballasts and electronic ballasts in dual U compact fluorescent lamps, the flicker percentage is also significantly different, indicating that lighting appliances have a great impact on flicker. In the same situation, the LED will produce heavy flicker, which is also due to the selection of a bad LED driver, which does not have much to do with the LED lamp itself.

LISUN LSRF-3 Lamp start, Run-up Time and Flicker Test System is equipped with Class A fast photometric probe, so the sampling speed is up to 100kHz, It fully meets the requirement of BASIC, energy Star v2.1, IEC-Pst, CA CEC,ASSIST, CIE SVM, IEEE Std 1789 standards, etc, It is professional for flicker test of LED lights and lamps, energy-saving lamps. Etc.

The following is the picture of LSRF-3 Lamp start, Run-up Time and Flicker Test System:         

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