5 ms·
All color considerations aside, one thing I find quit discomforting (first subconsciously, until I put my finger on it, and now even worse) is that led lights a
by abcanthur 9y ago
All color considerations aside, one thing I find quit discomforting (first subconsciously, until I put my finger on it, and now even worse) is that led lights are very very often a rectangular array of lighting elements. So instead of a point (or at least a large diffuse, continuous "point" in various bulb constructions) there are between 25-64 points of light in a 6"x6" area. From a 20' light pole, looking at the shadow of your hand on the sidewalk, you see (let's say) 36 different vague shadows, in a rectangular array, with a disfigured hand shaped, darkest shadow in the middle where the shadows all overlap. Truly, it can be dizzying if you try to focus on the shape of the shadow from a single object. Tree canopies become shifting fields, everything gets a blocky 16bit feel to it. I'm only human, but I can imagine some animals are well tuned to single point shadows and this effect might really throw them off.
(Interesting aside, I first noticed this while leaving LACMA (LA County Museum of Art) where the pure Instagram gold of Chris Burden's collection of old LA street lamps tightly packed, produces the same effect)
- nine_k 9y agoDoes it differ too much from vague shadows on an overcast day? I'd say 64 close-by shadows look more natural than more distinct 4, which I could clearly see with regular point-source lamps on tall poles.
- weberc2 9y agoPresumably this can be ameliorated by refracting the light with a plastic screen?
- sorenjan 9y agoYes, those shadows[1] are weird and feels a bit like low res shadow maps in games. Hopefully they start using diffusers in the future. [1] https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CIUkuDmUcAAqiF7.jpg https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CIUkuDmUcAAqiF7.jpg