Luminaire Design Related to Visibility

Design of luminaires and lighting systems traditionally has been made in accordance with the criterion of providing adequate levels of ilumination. The problem of overcoming ``veiling reflection'' effects, which cause great losses of visibility, largely has been overlooked. This has resulted in the ``visual performance'' of persons engaged in tasks such as reading and writing seriously being impaired. This paper describes the cause and evaluation of veiling reflections and shows how lighting equipment can be designed to overcome the deleterious effects, without sacrificing other requirements of the system.