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TheGrumpyre t1_jeazf6d wrote

I always wonder if I'm especially sensitive to the flickering on those lights or if the ones that annoy me are all defective in some way that makes the flickering more noticeable. I hate them.

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Zncon t1_jeb1z28 wrote

There are a few different ways to design these electrical systems. A cheap one like Christmas lights will flicker at 60hz or 120hz depending on design, both of which some people can detect.

I absolutely hate it.

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Podartist t1_jeblg8k wrote

UK electricity is 50 Hz, visitors from USA (60hz) see flickering. Long florescent tube lighting you find in offices was the worst.

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AnyAmphibianWillDo t1_jec8yo0 wrote

you can also find plenty of DC Christmas lights with no flicker at all. downsides are they have a brick to plug in and they can't be daisychained as much. I've got some strands that can be daisychained up to 300ft/91m - these cover the vast majority of home use cases, and the lead between the plug and first light is about 20ft/6m so it's usually possible to combine multiple sets. I once had 12 strands on one tree and while that required 3 plugs, it was something like 60w total so I just used a 3 outlet end on a 16awg extension cord

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frivolousfry t1_jeb5j6l wrote

Are you colour blind?

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TheGrumpyre t1_jeb7k71 wrote

No. Do you think that would make a difference? I would assume that would only affect the cells in your eye that detect the difference between wavelengths of light, not the ones that detect changes in light intensity. Unless it's one of those things where you become more attuned to other kinds of visual input to make up for the lost data.

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frivolousfry t1_jeb9wdy wrote

Indeed it is. There are two different types of cells responsible for visual stimulus. "Rods", as they are known, are responsible for differences in light intensity while "cones" are responsible for colour differential. Colour blind people don't necessarily have less eye cells overall, but rather a deficiency of cone cells. The totality of cells is comparable to a normal sighted person and the lack of cones is made up by rods, which in turn can cause an increase in light sensitivity for colourblind individuals.

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