Hmm i dont get one design. what are the frames under the lights have like a metal frame that goes down till the bottom of the fixture? and theres a patern, most of them have 18 squares, some with only 9. (18ers fit a regular ceiling tile, niners are half, a perfect square.) why are the frames like that? do they have a job of reflecting? or are they made just to look nice. hmm, here's a drawing of what it looks like:



i bet its just desinger. they have tons like this at school. and some (like in the hallways,) with just 2 rows and 6 colums.

Those sound like parabolic troffers. The little squares or cells are specular (mirror) silver in color and have a parabolic shape rather than having straight sides and this acts like a baffle to focus light downward. The effect of this is that it prevents glare from appearing on computer monitors, TV screens or a whiteboard. However, it also has the tendency to make the room look a bit dark. Manufacturers have started to move away from this design and have now started making what is known as high efficiency troffers, which are white in color rather than silver and actually tend to use a louver design that looks similar to that of older louvered fixtures. Given the choice between the two, I'd choose the efficiency troffers any time.

I think the ones at school are efficiency trofers, cause they are white but just a little silvery. but much whiter. at sylvan they have the others, cause they are silver, not more white. thanks now for the info =)

Edit, maybe they are whiter, butr they are parabolic. just read your post better. lol so yeah. they have the parabolic trofers at school. but i dont get one thing, who would some have 2 rows and 6 columns instead of the usual?

Usually there is one row for each lamp. I often see 4 rows on 4 lamp fixtures and 2 rows for fixtures that are either 2 lamp or 4 lamp. Usually if there are 3 lamps, hence the usual 3 rows.

one weird thing, at colorado mills, they have some of those lights, with 3 rows, but 2 lamps. the middle one is blank, but the ballast is in the middle. so it has a curved down thing on the light.. hmm, weird, right?