A metric is proposed for predicting the perception of light source flicker from a measurement of the relative light output waveform. The metric is the weighted quadrature sum of the temporal spectral components comprising the waveform after dividing by the waveform mean. The metric’s foundation is that used by the IEC flickermeter, which assumes a linear, time invariant human response to flicker. This assumption, restated in terms of the spectral components being additive and independent, was found to accurately model the flicker detection thresholds for a range of waveform shapes and frequencies. In the testing of the additive and independence requirements, the empirical spectral sensitivity to flicker was measured for 10 observers. The metric also correctly predicted whether flicker was detected for five commercial A-lamps.
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