Reflectance characteristics of display screen equipment: application to workplace lighting design

Abstract

Workplace lighting design is dominated by a perceived requirement for low-brightness luminaires, to avoid distracting reflections in display screen equipment (DSE). This paper presents measurements of the reflectance characteristics of current commercially available DSE. The results suggest that modern display screens cause less distracting reflections, and consequently that current workplace lighting guidelines could be significantly relaxed. The measurements of screen self-luminance, specular and diffuse reflectance followed the experimental method of EN 29241-7, and corroborate tendencies seen in previous studies. EN 29241-7 contains calculations for quantifying the subjective distraction effect to office workers, and these calculations were adapted to derive numerical values for the maximum tolerable luminance of office luminaires. The practical application of these measurement techniques to commercial workplace lighting design is discussed.