This Week in European Project Lighting: Orders Are Leaning Toward “High CRI + Low Glare”
When you start seeing CRI (Ra) ≥ 90 / R9 and UGR ≤ 19 / Low Glare appearing together more often in RFQs and project specs, it usually means clients are no longer buying “brightness only”—they’re buying stable acceptance, better comfort, and fewer complaints.
01｜What We’re Seeing This Week: Two Metrics Showing Up Together More Often
Signal A: UGR (Glare) is increasingly written as a “must-have” (especially in offices)
UGR is a widely used method to evaluate discomfort glare in indoor lighting. In practice, it is not a fixed “LED strip parameter”—it depends on the luminaire optics, the installation condition, and even the viewing direction.
That’s why office projects often specify targets like UGR ≤ 19: it’s an engineering way to control comfort-related risk before installation.
Signal B: CRI is shifting from “80 is acceptable” to “90+ is preferred”—and R9 is asked more often
In many project types, Ra ≥ 80 is considered the baseline. However, for higher visual-demand applications, project owners increasingly prefer Ra 90+.
At the same time, more clients ask about R9. The reason is simple: Ra (CRI) is typically an average of multiple color samples and often does not include R9 (saturated red), yet R9 strongly affects how skin tones, wood textures, reds, and painted surfaces appear.
02｜Why Projects Care More About “High CRI + Low Glare”
Low glare reduces complaints
Low glare helps reduce harsh brightness, screen reflections, and eye fatigue— especially in offices, education, and healthcare.
High CRI (and R9) reduces rework
High CRI improves color accuracy and material realism—critical for retail, hospitality, showrooms, automotive detailing/repair, and any space where color judgment matters.
In short: High CRI makes colors look real. Low glare makes lighting feel comfortable. Projects use both to reduce risk.
03｜How We Deliver an “Engineering-Ready” Solution (Not Just a Strip)
Important note we share with clients
UGR is a luminaire & installation outcome, not a standalone LED strip spec. To achieve low glare reliably, we build the solution as a combination of: LED strip + optical structure + installation method.
A. Our low-glare approach (linear / cove / cabinet / wall-wash)
- Prevent direct view of the light source: deeper channels, indirect cove layouts, or angled (e.g., 45°) profiles.
- Turn point-light into surface-light: diffusers, micro-prismatic covers, or anti-glare lenses to smooth the output.
- Control peak luminance: maintain required illuminance while reducing harsh hotspots for better comfort.
B. Our high-CRI approach (retail / hospitality / automotive / display)
- Ra ≥ 90 as the preferred project-grade option.
- For premium display needs, we can propose higher R9 directions and provide supporting data/explanation.
- We treat color consistency and batch stability as key deliverables to avoid within-reel or cross-batch color shifts.
04｜How We Explain the “Up to 20% Price Difference” (Client-Facing Wording)
When you see two COB strips both labeled 480 LEDs/m but the prices are noticeably different, we usually explain it like this:
“480 LEDs/m is only a density parameter. In real projects, what determines the final result and acceptance is: color accuracy (Ra 90+ / optional higher R9) and visual comfort (low-glare optics + structure + installation). Our quote is priced around delivering the project outcome—not just ‘it lights up’.”
“Also, targets like UGR can only be achieved reliably when the strip is integrated with the right profile depth and optical cover. That’s why we propose the strip and optics as a complete system—to help you pass acceptance and reduce post-installation complaints.”
05｜To Quote the Right Solution Fast, Here Are the 8 Questions We’ll Confirm With You
To reduce back-and-forth and give you an actionable recommendation quickly, please confirm:
- Application: office / retail / hotel / education / healthcare / workshop bay?
- Glare target: do you require UGR ≤ 19 (or stricter)?
- CRI target: Ra 80 or Ra 90+? Do you care about R9?
- Installation: surface-mounted / recessed / cove / wall-wash?
- Lighting effect: softer surface glow, or sharper definition?
- Run length & feeding: single-end or double-end? Need better end-to-end uniformity?
- Dimming: DALI / 0–10V / TRIAC?
- Acceptance priority: illuminance, uniformity, glare, color consistency, lifetime/warranty—what matters most?
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