Lighting systems which provide an approximately uniform illuminance on the horizontal working plane over the entire area are called general or uniform lighting systems. The luminaires are arranged in a regular layout, giving a tidy appearance to the installation. General lighting is simple to plan and install, and requires no coordination with task locations which may not be known or which may change.
The greatest advantage of such a system is that it permits complete flexibility of task location. Its major disadvantage is that energy is wasted in illuminating the whole area to the level needed only for the most critical tasks.