THE NEMESIS OF THE INSTAGRAM MOMENT
Anyone who’s ever recorded a video in a bar, restaurant or store and experienced an annoying strobing effect on their screen is aware of the presence of flicker. Imperceptible to the human eye, but there for all to see on social media, flicker is fast becoming a persistent issue as we live, work, and play in a more digital world.
Smart phones are developing at pace, which has intensified the issue since framing is faster than the human eye. Our lives are also increasingly reliant on screens. Every moment is a potential social media post, while flexible working means video conference calls are no longer constrained to a boardroom.
We’re also specifying more LEDs and dimming systems, which can be problematic when a dimmer reduces power to the driver or when a project is value engineered – low-grade dimmers or an incompatibility between a dimmer and LED driver can result in flicker.
From the lighting designer’s point of view, the issue is becoming frustrating. However much we meticulously design, develop and fine-tune our schemes, unsteady lighting is creeping in. The lighting magic comes to life when a person is actually in the space but can be a big #fail when viewed on social media.
For our clients in the retail, hospitality, F&B, and commercial sectors, who rely on us to design schemes that look great in both the physical and digital realms, we’re on a mission to bring the flicker issue to light and adopt strategies to mitigate it.
