A small, California-based lighting design company, Lumiette, is developing a lighting product they call the Flat Panel Lamp (FPL) which is designed to combine the best attributes of fluorescent and LED lightsources. They share LEDs’ low profile, energy efficiency, long life, and dimmability, and like other premier fluorescent sources, have the highest color quality properties for general illumination.  Unlike most fluorescents, FPLs’ larger surface area reduces glare and permits placement closer to the luminaires’ luminous surface.  The thin, low heat properties of the FPL may lead to new applications and alternative shapes in lighting fixture design.

FPLs comprise two pieces of glass, one flat and one ribbed (mold-formed), which are hermetically sealed to form the fluorescent lamp.  FPLs can radiate light from both top and bottom surfaces of the lamp, and an internal reflection layer can be utilized to project up to 97% of generated light in one direction or the other.

via: matternetwork.com