The effects of an anti-glare sleeve installed on fluorescent tube lamps on glare and reading comfort

Abstract

Our previous study has demonstrated the benefits of a reflective sleeve to redirect lighting and to enhance luminous intensity of fluorescent tube lamps in certain light projecting angles. A reflective sleeve is composed of a plastic reflector and a transparent refractor. However, the intensive centralized lighting may increase the possibilities of producing glare. In this study, the transparent refractor of the sleeve is replaced with a diffuser to compose an anti-glare sleeve. This study adopts measurement, optical software simulation, and experiment methods to investigate the effects of an anti-glare sleeve on redirecting lighting and reducing glare. The results demonstrate that luminous intensity towards viewing objects of a fluorescent tube lamp enhances after adopting an anti-glare sleeve. In addition, software simulation indicates an anti-glare sleeve increases light uniformity and reduces glare. The subjective evaluation also shows that florescent tube lamps with anti-glare sleeves produce less light reflection on various papers and more comfortable reading. © 2009 Springer Berlin Heidelberg.