USAI’s Newest Products Focus on Small Beams & Precise Control
In the evolution of lighting trends, offering smaller apertures and form factors for a truly unobtrusive appearance are among the industry’s most popular trends — and it wouldn’t be possible without advances in LED.
Award-winning LED lighting manufacturer USAI Lighting recently unveiled several innovations across its product families, including ultra-narrow beams for precision highlighting; a new LED color temperature that delivers a golden glow in a minimal architectural aesthetic; and an advanced evolution of its wall-wash optics.
USLT asked USAI President Bonnie Littman to speak about some of these latest product developments.
Littman, a third-generation lighting veteran, explained that USAI identifies industry needs by cultivating close relationships within the architecture and design community. “Through these collaborations, we gain insight into the challenges designers face and the experiences they aim to create — whether it’s achieving tighter beams from compact, discreet fixtures or crafting warm, inviting environments for hospitality and residential spaces,” she said.
Producing tight beams with LED light sources and small apertures often requires much larger optics than a small fixture can house. According to Littman, USAI’s advanced optics solves this limitation with its Ultra-Narrow 6° beam for BeveLED Mini® Complete 3″ recessed downlights and an Extra-Narrow 10° beam for the LittleTwos ™ NXT 2″, BeveLED Mini® Complete 3″, BeveLED Mini® Basic Pancake® 3″, and BeveLED® 2.2 4.5″.
Both the Ultra Narrow 6° and Extra Narrow 10° beams provide high intensity, clean, and precise beams with soft edges — ideal for lighting objects and areas with an elevated and dramatic look that’s difficult to achieve with small fixtures. “They’re especially effective in galleries, museums, retail displays, and accent-focused residential, restaurant, or hospitality spaces,” Littman recounted.
The addition of the 2400K color temperature stemmed both from industry demand and personal inspiration — as it is a favorite of Littman’s, who uses USAI’s Infinite Color+® WRGB lighting in her own home. “We wanted to make 2400K more accessible for projects on budgets,” she said. The 2400K color temperature has become popular in hospitality and residential projects. It generates “emotional warmth” that fosters an intimate, relaxing atmosphere; an “enhanced guest experience” by elevating the mood and making spaces more memorable; and provides a flattering light quality with golden tones that enhance people and materials with a soft glow.
In other instances, innovation is driven by the success of an existing USAI product, such as the new trim options for TrueZero360® with Quiet Comfort™ Optics. The company recently extended the line’s performance and aesthetic to a broader range of ceiling types and applications such as luxury residential, commercial, galleries, and hospitality. The popular TrueZero360® line is now available in round, trimmed, trimless, and millwork styles, as well as its original square options. Specifiers like that it offers a seamless flush glass aesthetic that aligns with the ceiling plane for a seamless appearance plus advanced glare control for visual comfort. According to the company, TrueZero360 is perfect for projects prioritizing “quiet ceilings” since it keeps attention on people, objects, and architectural finishes — not the fixtures.
For the Quiet Comfort™ wall wash, inspiration began with the goal of creating the perfect wall wash. “We reimagined what was possible, tackled longstanding limitations, and collaborated to engineer a lighting solution that delivers extraordinary performance and visual comfort,” Littman said. The patented Quiet Comfort Optical System delivers a wall wash with up to 2,575 glare-free delivered lumens for visual comfort.
“LED light naturally spreads in 180° directions,” Littman noted. “USAI Lighting’s proprietary Quiet Comfort Optical System harnesses and controls the light efficiently, delivering 82% of the light directly onto the wall and eliminating backlight and scatter while illuminating high and wide from top to bottom.” Brighter at eye level to naturally guide visual attention, it gently tapers in intensity above and below.
According to Littman, these USAI products are a favorite of contractors and distributors because they empower specifiers to fine-tune architectural designs through precision lighting and advanced optical performance. “The result is an elevated visual experience with consistent, high-quality illumination and a refined, unified appearance below the ceiling,” she said. Holding the spec preserves the integrity of the design vision and delivers the exceptional performance the project was intended to achieve both visually and technically. Substitutions can risk compromising the aesthetics, uniformity, and overall user experience.
In short, Littman stated that recommending these USAI solutions adds meaningful value to any project by delivering a more refined, high-performing space with visual comfort, and a clean, consistent aesthetic.
Related articles
MDA Design Group and USAI Lighting Light Up the Oceanside Library
