Will there be any visible flicker in the LED bulbs?

ROSELEE · Jun 7, 2017

I have been reading up on LED bulbs and it seems power factor correction (PFC) is quite needed in most designs.

My goal is to achieve a PF greater than 0.9. I am considering using an LED Driver with built-in PFC like Fairchild's FLS0116. From the datasheet of FLS0116 (and attached photo), it's easy to see that the IC ensures that the LED current follows the shape of the input voltage waveform as closely as possible - including where the voltage crosses zero.

My question is: because the LED current is zero every 10ms, will there be any visible flicker?

lf-mark · Jun 7, 2017

Yes. That's 100Hz flicker, which is visible.

My landing is lit with E14-based LED filament bulbs. The small base seems to mean that the manufacturer can't install enough capacitance to smooth the waveform as much as larger E27/B22 based bulbs. I'm sensitive to flicker and the 100Hz rate is not really noticeable when things aren't moving, but can get really quite unpleasant when hanging up striped clothing to dry, for example.

Pop a cap in like figure 11 in the data sheet and it should be fine.

alice_1 · Jun 8, 2017

lf-mark said:
Yes. That's 100Hz flicker, which is visible.

My landing is lit with E14-based LED filament bulbs. The small base seems to mean that the manufacturer can't install enough capacitance to smooth the waveform as much as larger E27/B22 based bulbs. I'm sensitive to flicker and the 100Hz rate is not really noticeable when things aren't moving, but can get really quite unpleasant when hanging up striped clothing to dry, for example.

Pop a cap in like figure 11 in the data sheet and it should be fine.

I totally agree with you! 100Hz Flicker I think. [FONT=&quot] I often struggle in my home office which does not get a ton of sunlight to find a daylight bulb that is bright enough without a flicker. [/FONT]

ROSELEE · Jun 8, 2017

Thank you for your answer, I'll have a try then.

GreenMaxLEDs · Jul 29, 2017

Flicker is caused by drivers, not LEDs. If you use Meanwell drivers, you will not have flicker problem.
You can test for flicker by looking at the light through your phone screen. If you don't see the flicker in your phone, you should be ok.
I hope this helps.

ssanasisredna · Jul 29, 2017

Some Meanwell have flicker some don't .

ssanasisredna · Jul 29, 2017

Why build your own driver?

StarHalo · Jul 29, 2017

Never noticed any flicker in my Philips HUE bulbs.

How do you not have an LED bulb in 2017?

Will there be any visible flicker in the LED bulbs?

ROSELEE

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