Concord Equinox – premium lighting luminaires, utilising a brand-new system of light refraction
England, 14th November 2022 – Today Sylvania launched its next generation of premium luminaires that uses QuarkStar’s award-winning light refraction technology. The Equinox, part of Concord by Sylvania range, delivers a high-end premium lighting solution that re-invents how downlights can be used by architects and lighting designers and revolutionises how spaces are lit.
With a choice of two position settings, extended or non-extended, the new system provides a way of controlling the light source in a highly decorative and innovative way. In a first-of-its-kind, light is refracted, not reflected, both downwards for a direct component and upwards onto the ceiling for an indirect component. This creates a halo effect which improves the ambience and avoids the dark, cave-like effect normally witnessed with conventional downlights. At the same time, it also lowers the contrast which would otherwise result in discomfort glare. Thanks to Sylvania’s SylSmart Standalone wireless controls, users can benefit from quick and easy app programming that enables lighting to be changed at the touch of a button.
“The ability to minimise dark ceilings, entirely changing the ambience of a room whilst beautifully illuminating the space, is unique to Equinox and is a game-changer for the industry,” explains Agnieszka Paprocka, Senior Product Line Manager – EMEA for Sylvania.
QuarkStar’s light refraction technology allows, for the first time, an indirect component to be integrated into a downlight without supplementary optics. This results in a sleek, discreet, and polished design that also produces a tailored distribution with a UGR (Unified Glare Rating) of less than 19, putting Equinox in the highest quality classification in European interior lighting standards. The radically new way of coupling an optic to a waveguide is what enables this unprecedented control over the photon as soon as it emerges from the LED chip, maximising light extraction efficiency while sculpting the light in three-dimensional space.
Paprocka adds: “Unlike conventional waveguide products, Equinox does not use the waveguide as a light-emitting surface. Instead, the waveguide acts solely as a guide and mixing chamber. This ultra-low glare, space-enhancing product can either be recessed completely to create a minimalistic edge of light, or it could be in full drop-down view, yielding the ultimate in light distribution from a compact form factor that augments the sense of space. In both instances, the very high purity and clarity of the optic means the light source virtually disappears into a ceiling installation.”
Equinox has been designed to offer an alternative to traditional downlights, matching their conventional sizes, but providing direct and indirect light distribution. The luminaire offers trim and trimless versions for installation in plaster ceilings. It delivers up to 2500 lumens with low glare of UGR<19 and high efficiency of up to 125lm/W with CRI90 LED chips for excellent colour rendering.