Reading lights for low vision
Is small print hard to read?
Small print can look as clear as day under a Serious Light, because you get up to 12x more light on your page than a 60W bulb, in the full spectrum of daylight, set to suit your eyes. Those are the three things to look for in a reading lamp for poor eyesight.
Small print can look as clear as day under a Serious Light, a reading lamp for poor eyesight with up to 12x more light on your page in the full spectrum of daylight.
Alex Pratt OBE | Founder
Or call free on 0800 032 9364, Monday to Friday, 8.30am to 5.30pm
Owners notice the difference the first time they switch it on.
At 60 your eyes need about three times the light they did at 20, and an ordinary bulb gives only part of the daylight spectrum. A Serious Light gives you more light and the full spectrum together. These are three of the changes owners tell us about.
Your post and the small print are easier to read.
On the HD Original and HD Pro, one turn of the ring narrows the beam onto the smallest print, whether it is a letter, the footnotes in your book or the label on your medicine.
Print looks sharper and colours look true.
Daylight Wavelength Technology™ rebuilds the full spectrum of daylight with 98% colour accuracy, so black print looks crisp on white. It has none of the invisible flicker most LEDs produce, so the light on your page stays steady however long you read.
You can dim it to exactly the level you want.
Set the brightness you like and it comes back at that level every time you switch on, so you read for longer in comfort. The arm holds where you put it and is guaranteed for life.
The Serious Readers story
I built the first HD Light for my mum.
By 1988 the lights we made were already on production lines and in laboratories, and then my mum began losing her sight to macular degeneration. I built her the first High Definition home reading light so she could carry on reading, and stay independent.
Every light on this page descends from hers. You do not build a cheap lamp for your mum; you build the best one you can, and then you spend forty years making it better. We still build every Serious Light that way, for anyone who finds small print harder to see than it used to be.
See how much clearer print looks in true daylight.
An ordinary bulb only looks white. It leaves gaps across the spectrum, and your eyes work to fill them in, which is why we call it junk light. Daylight has no gaps, and Daylight Wavelength Technology™ rebuilds it, so the contrast between print and paper is clearer and everyday reading takes less effort.
An ordinary bulb leaves gaps across the spectrum, and your eyes work to fill them in. Daylight Wavelength Technology™ rebuilds the full spectrum, so the contrast between print and paper is clearer.
The two passages show the idea, and the home trial lets you try it with your own books.
Choose my reading lampBuilt to be the best we can make.
If you want the cheapest lamp, a Serious Light is not for you. It is a reliable tool for people who need or want the best light.
Serious Lights have been chosen for operating theatres, the British Museum and the Heathrow control tower, where fine detail and true colour matter. A warranty is only worth the company standing behind it, and ours has been building and repairing these lights for forty years. In 2025/26 alone we repaired or upgraded 1,350 of them.
A five-year warranty on the light, with a replaceable light engine inside it.
A lifetime warranty on the arm. The flexible arm holds wherever you bend it, for good.
The HD Original and HD Essential are hand-built in Aylesbury, around fifty a day. When something goes wrong, we repair it or we replace it.
▶ See how the light works
Put full daylight on your page, wherever you read.
If small print is harder to make out, start with a light you can bring close over your page, because the closer it is, the more light you have to read by. Most people choose the HD Original, as a floor light or a table light.
If small print is harder to make out, start with a light you can bring close over your page. Most people choose the HD Original, as a floor or a table light.
HD Original
This is the light we recommend: everything we have learned in forty years, in one light. Narrow the beam onto small print, set the brightness you like, and both stay as you left them.
This is the light we recommend. Narrow the beam onto small print, set your level, and both stay put.
Perfect for your books, your post and your crossword.
From about 19p a night over the five-year warranty.
Start my 90-day home trialAbout 16p a night over the five-year warranty.
Start my 90-day home trialTry it at home for 90 days
5-year warranty with a lifetime on the arm
Free delivery, and it arrives fully built
Arrives fully built, ready to use
UK delivery by DHL, £12.95
Hand-built in Great Britain
Quote at checkout or on the phone
Learn more about this light
Floor light specifications
Heavyweight (most popular): 152cm, 6kg, 23cm base.
Lightweight: 144cm, 3kg, 20cm base.
3,600 to 7,200 lux at 50cm depending on beam width. 98% CRI, 4,000K, 630 lumens. Flicker-free.
Replaceable light engine, 5-year guarantee, lifetime guarantee on the arm. 7.2 watts, pennies a week to run.
Table light specifications
Heavyweight: 71cm, 4.5kg, 20cm base.
Lightweight: 68cm, 2.2kg, 18cm base.
3,600 to 7,200 lux at 50cm depending on beam width. 98% CRI, 4,000K, 630 lumens. Flicker-free.
Replaceable light engine, 5-year guarantee, lifetime guarantee on the arm. 7.2 watts, pennies a week to run.
See our other models, or let us help you choose.
HD Pro
With the optional remote you change the brightness without reaching up to the light, and the optional battery makes it fully cordless. You can add either when you order or at any time later, and you shape the beam just as you do on the HD Original.
Add the optional remote to change the brightness without reaching up, or the battery to go cordless, now or later.
Perfect if you would rather not reach up to adjust your light.
From about 22p a night over the five-year warranty.
Start my 90-day home trialFrom about 19p a night over the five-year warranty.
Start my 90-day home trial90-day home trial
5-year warranty with a lifetime on the arm
Free delivery
UK delivery by DHL, £12.95
Quote at checkout or on the phone
Click to view specifications
152cm, 4.8kg. Quick-change cordless battery in the base, arm slots out for servicing. Optional carpet feet.
Replaceable light engine, 5-year guarantee, lifetime guarantee on the arm. 7.2 watts, pennies a week to run.
HD Essential
It gives you 8x more light on your page than a 60W bulb, in full Serious daylight, with a fixed wide beam and a press-and-hold dimmer, so there is nothing to set but the brightness.
It gives you 8x more light on your page than a 60W bulb, with a fixed wide beam and a press-and-hold dimmer.
Perfect if you want the simplest light to use.
From about 16p a night over the five-year warranty.
Start my 30-day home trialFrom about 14p a night over the five-year warranty.
Start my 30-day home trial30-day home trial
5-year warranty with a lifetime on the arm
Free delivery
UK delivery by DHL, £12.95
Hand-built in Great Britain
Quote at checkout or on the phone
Click to view specifications
Heavyweight (most popular): 152cm, 6kg, 23cm base.
Lightweight: 144cm, 3kg, 20cm base.
Replaceable LED bulb rated for three years of life, under a 5-year warranty on the light and a lifetime warranty on the arm. 6 watts, pennies a week to run.
Click to view specifications
Heavyweight: 71cm, 4.5kg, 19cm base.
Lightweight: 68cm, 2.2kg, 18cm base.
Replaceable LED bulb rated for three years of life, under a 5-year warranty on the light and a lifetime warranty on the arm. 6 watts, pennies a week to run.
Not sure which one? Answer six quick questions.
Tell us how you read, and we will point you at the right light.
What will you use your light for?
Choose all that apply
How do your eyes feel right now?
Choose one
What frustrates you about your current light?
Choose all that apply
Will it stay put, or move around the house?
Choose one
Once you are settled, do you mind reaching up to adjust it?
Choose one
Where will your light live?
Choose one
For the way you read, we recommend
Not what you expected? Call free on 0800 032 9364 and an adviser will help you choose.
More light alone is not enough.
Everything you see, you see by light, so the kind of light you read by matters as much as how much of it you have. We have spent forty years on nothing else.
The kind of light you read by matters as much as how much of it you have.
An ordinary bulb leaves gaps in the light, however far you turn it up.
An ordinary bulb gives out only part of the daylight spectrum, so turning it up puts more glare into the room while small print can stay just as hard to make out.
Read how the light works
Read by daylight at any hour.
Daylight Wavelength Technology™ rebuilds the full spectrum of noon daylight with 98% colour accuracy, so the light on your page at night is much like the light by a window at midday. See the independent research.
Aim the light exactly where you want it.
The head swivels through 350 degrees and the arm bends to put the beam right where you read, slow-start technology fades it up gently, and every adjustment holds exactly where you set it.
Opticians say the right light matters as much as the right glasses.
More than 500 UK opticians recommend a Serious Light to their patients. Here are five of them, in their own words.
Lighting has a huge impact on our ability to see. Serious Readers lights are well designed, simple to use, and provide accurate colour and detail representation.
Serious Reader Lights simulate strong natural daylight, relieving eye fatigue and improving reading. The range of styles, warranty and customer care means I recommend with confidence.
The clarity a Serious Readers lamp provides is second to none. Patients are amazed at the difference. Just like correct prescription glasses, the right lighting is so important.
Serious Lights are among the best I have come across. They provide natural, high quality light that improves comfort and clarity, easily adjusted to direct light exactly where needed.
The right light is as important as the right glasses. It reduces strain for close work, vital for anyone with cataracts or macular degeneration. Patients really appreciate the difference.
▶ Watch optometrist Tracey Taylor explain why.Watch an optometrist explain why.
Readers tell us why they keep theirs.
From more than 10,000 five-star reviews.
▶ Hear what owners have to say.
“Not cheap but well worth the quality of life you get from these lights. My eyesight is too precious to waste time with inferior lighting.”
Mrs Thoday, Market Rasen
“Just a note to say how very pleased I am with my HD Essential Table Light. It has made such a difference.”
Mrs Lillie, Cruden Bay
“When I first looked at your lights I thought they were expensive but when you look at the quality, the old saying ‘you get what you pay for’ is true.”
Mr Robotham, Lincs
Household names and professionals read and work by Serious Lights.
Household names read their scripts and manuscripts by one, and lifeboat crews, air traffic controllers and telescope engineers work under one, because fine detail is their job.
The Serious Light that arrives at your door is built to the same standard.
Why Stanley Gibbons rely on Serious Lights.
Watch George James catch two fakes.Head of Philately, Stanley Gibbons
Get answers before you choose a light for your eyes.
Here are the questions people ask us most.
Which is the best reading lamp for poor eyesight?
There is no single best one for everybody, because what suits you depends on your eyes, what you want to see and where you sit. For most people it is the HD Original, the light most of our customers choose, because it gives you full control over where the light falls and how much of it there is.
Choose the HD Pro if you would rather change the brightness with its remote, and the HD Essential if you want a good reading lamp that is as simple as it gets. All three carry the same Daylight Wavelength Technology™, and what changes between them is how much light they give and how much control you have over it.
What can a Serious Light do if I have an eye condition?
Serious Lights are not medical devices, and they do not treat, slow or cure any eye condition, including macular degeneration, cataracts and glaucoma. Anything about the condition itself is a question for your optometrist or eye clinic.
What a Serious Light does is put far more usable light on your page, in the full spectrum of daylight, with a beam and a brightness you set yourself. Customers living with macular degeneration and cataracts tell us print looks sharper and higher in contrast under one, and the home trial is the way to find out for yourself. You can read more on our pages about reading lights for macular degeneration and lighting for other eye conditions.
Is it suitable if I am partially sighted or visually impaired?
Everyone's sight is different, so the best test is at home. What you get is up to 12x more light on your page than a 60W bulb on the HD Original and HD Pro, in the full spectrum of daylight, with a beam you can bring close over your page and a brightness you choose yourself.
If you have low vision and would rather talk it through before you order, call free on 0800 032 9364, Monday to Friday, 8.30am to 5.30pm, and an adviser will help you choose.
How much light does it put on your page?
Measured at 50cm, the HD Original and HD Pro put between 3,600 and 7,200 lux on your page. Narrow the beam for the smallest print and the light concentrates to 7,200 lux; spread it wide across a newspaper and it holds 3,600. The HD Essential gives 4,800 lux across its fixed wide beam.
Colour accuracy is 98% CRI, the light is flicker-free, and all three dim, so you can have the full amount for small print and turn it down for everything else.
Your own eyes are the best judge, so try one at home with the things you love doing. You have up to 90 days, and if it is not for you, we collect it free from any UK mainland address and refund you.
Start my 90-day home trialMore questions
Should I choose a floor light or a table light?
Both carry the same daylight, and on both the arm bends to bring the light close over your page, so choose by where you read. Where there is no table beside you, one of the floor lights reaches over your shoulder; where there is a side table or a desk, one of the table lights does the same job from there.
How do the lights compare?
Every light here carries the same Daylight Wavelength Technology™ and the same 5-year warranty. What changes is the control you get over the beam: how you shape it, dim it and direct it. Here are the three side by side.
Most popular
HD Original
The light most people choose
|
HD Pro
The most advanced of the three
|
HD Essential
Daylight made simple
|
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Best for | All-round reading | Cordless and remote | Plain and simple |
| Finishes | Black or Heritage White | Black only | Black or Heritage White |
| Beam | Adjustable, shapeable | Adjustable, shapeable | Wide, even, fixed |
| Dimming | Stepless with memory | Stepless with memory | Press-and-hold, with memory |
| Remote & cordless | No. | Yes, optional | No. |
| Home trial | 90 days | 90 days | 30 days |
| Warranty | 5 years, lifetime arm | 5 years, lifetime arm | 5 years, lifetime arm |
| Table light price | From £299.99 | From £349.99 | From £249.99 |
| Floor light price | From £349.99 | From £399.99 | From £299.99 |
| Start my 90-day trial | Start my 90-day trial | Start my 30-day trial |
HD Original
The light most people choose
HD Pro
The most advanced of the three
HD Essential
Daylight made simple
Where should I put my light?
Stand it beside you with the head a little below your eye level, then angle it down over your page so the light falls on your book rather than in your eyes.
Start a little further away than you think you need and bring it closer until the print is comfortable to read, and keep some other light on in the room as well.
Can I use it with a magnifier?
Yes. Keep the light to one side of your magnifier rather than straight above it, because light shining onto the glass bounces back into your eyes.
What bulb does it take, and what does it cost to run?
All three run on LED, which is why a light this strong costs pennies a week to run. The HD Original and HD Pro use a replaceable light engine rather than a bulb, and the HD Essential takes a replaceable LED bulb.
They run cool enough to sit close beside you all evening, and you are not up a stepladder changing a bulb every year.
Why do they cost more than an ordinary lamp?
You pay for the full daylight spectrum, an arm and a dimmer that hold where you set them, a five-year warranty on the light and a lifetime warranty on the arm, and a forty-year-old company standing behind both. Most lamps are built down to a price, and we build Serious Lights to be repaired rather than thrown away. With the home trial, you can judge it at home, and if it is not for you, we collect it and refund you in full.
How long does delivery take?
UK delivery is by DHL tracked courier and usually takes two to three working days. It is free with your code.It costs £12.95.
The Original and Essential arrive fully built, and the Pro's arm simply slots into its base. Either way, you plug it in and read the same evening.
Keep doing the things you love, by daylight.
It is easiest to judge at home, on the things you read and do every day.
Quote code at checkout.
Start my 90-day home trialTry it at home for up to 90 days. If it is not for you, we collect it free from any UK mainland address and refund you in full.
Or call free on 0800 032 9364, Monday to Friday, 8.30am to 5.30pm.