dmattox:
I looked at that specification. It's just a buyer's spec. It's not an engineering spec. It doesn't show the circuit schematic, or give any indication how it (supposedly) gets rid of the 60 Hz component. What is the ballast going to be doing during the zero-crossing of the incoming AC? Is it converting to DC first? I tried downloading their "Technical Data Sheet" but the SQL server it's accessing seems to have some problems at the moment (that's not good web server programming to make delivery of a file dependent on a database that isn't reliable).
I've seen "flicker free" lights before. And I can still see the flicker (while everyone around me said they could not).
I once asked on another forum how best to go about making a fluorescent light work directly on DC. I didn't get any answer to that one. But I'd think it is just a matter of achieving the start voltage and limiting the current by chopping up fast enough.
This could be done with three phase power. Just chop around the phases at the right syncronized rate and timing to use an equal amount of power at all times. Do it fast enough (42 kHz should work) and a small capacitor could sink all the harmonic currents with a negligible power factor drop.
A more complex circuit could do this with single phase power using a capacitor to get something approximating a 90 degree phase shift so there's a power source during the incoming zero crossing. But that would drop the power factor significantly (maybe down to 0.7).
Otherwise, they'd have to convert from AC to DC then chop that up to make it work without flicker.
Here is an extensive information resource on fluorescent lighting:
http://nemesis.lonestar.org/reference/electricity/fluorescent/index.html
