Our eyes are truly our window into the world. For those of us blessed with sight, our eyes are essential to how we learn, work, and connect with one another. But when it comes to home lighting, many of us are neglecting this crucial asset, suffering unnecessary discomfort and risking deterioration in our visual health.
Time spent outdoors in natural sunlight is an important part of a healthy lifestyle, as well as one of the most consistent interventions to reduce myopia development, also known as near-sightedness. But the indoor lighting environment – where we spend a significant portion of our time – can play an important role in our eye comfort and health. Advances in LED technology give us powerful tools to shape light in ways that benefit our well-being. By controlling spatial, spectral, and temporal light qualities, we can create home environments that reduce eye strain and support our visual health in the long term.
Setting the standard in EyeComfort
In 2018, Signify pioneered the EyeComfort standard across our Philips portfolio. This rigorous benchmark evaluates lighting performance across eight criteria:
- Flicker and stroboscopic effect: Flickering lights can be hard on the eyes, causing distraction, irritation, and affecting certain health conditions.
- Photobiological safety: Our LEDs do not emit higher amounts of short wavelength light than incandescent lamps and fall well within safety standards.
- Glare: Excessive brightness can cause visual discomfort and even headaches.
- Dimming and tunability: Lights can be dimmed without flicker. Color temperature can be adjusted to suit the activity and time of day.
- Color rendering: EyeComfort LEDs have a high Color Rendering Index, meaning that objects appear sharp and true in color.
- Audible noise: Lamps are designed to eliminate audible noise and reduce distraction.
While there are many products on the market that claim to enhance visual comfort, most only address a small subset of these factors. In contrast, Philips consumer lighting solutions are comprehensively engineered to meet them all. As of 2025, all of our mainstream Philips consumer products proudly carry the EyeComfort badge as a hallmark of quality, innovation, and scientific integrity.
Smart lighting for visual comfort
To avoid unnecessary eye strain, Signify has developed its smart lighting ecosystem with visual comfort in mind. Philips Hue products allow customization of brightness, warmth, and scheduling with pre-set scenes such as Relax, Concentrate, Read, and Energize to match different moods and activities. Lights are tunable from warm to cool following the rhythm of the day, with gradual brightness transitions and no-flicker dimming that reduce abrupt changes and help protect the eyes.
Signify’s WiZ smart lighting is also ideal for building a precisely tailored lighting experience at home. WiZ offers flexible control over color temperature and ambience, from energizing daylight to soothing evening tones. Presets like Focus or Relax help support eye comfort throughout the day while enhancing the overall atmosphere of the space
Global challenges, local solutions
Increasingly, our vision is under threat from a sharp global rise in myopia, or nearsightedness. Today, this is more than a personal inconvenience – it’s a global public health concern. This crisis is particularly acute in East Asia. In China, one-fifth of children spend less than one hour outdoors every day, with rates even lower among girls, older children, and those living in urban environments. And in Japan, adolescent myopia rates soar as high as 86%. Cultural and academic pressures often lead children to study late into the evening under artificial light. These trends were amplifiedby the COVID-19 pandemic, which increased the time that children and young people were spending in front of screens and decreased their time spent outdoors.
To meet a growing need, Signify has developed specialist lighting solutions designed for optimal visual comfort during study. Our dedicated EyeCare desk, floor, and ceiling lights for the Chinese market deliver whole-room illumination that eliminates harsh contrast and reduces eye fatigue. Other innovative features include timed reminders to encourage regular vision breaks, helping build healthy visual habits for children and teens.
Shaping the future
Every day, I see the impact lighting can have on people’s lives – not just to illuminate, but to enhance health and well-being. Our teams at Signify combine decades of lighting expertise with a strong culture of scientific research and a deep commitment to shaping a future where homes are safer and healthier for our eyes. With thoughtful lighting, people can make bright choices toward lasting visual health and comfort.
