An area light with size vectors 24*x and 24*z, when placed fairly close to a
surface should brightly illuminate a roughly square area on the surface,
should it not?  The diffuse illumination on nearby surfaces from an area
light should be related to the size and shape of the area light, but this
does not appear to be the case, and I believe that this has been listed in
the POV-Ray FAQ section.

Why is this important?  I frequently create interior architectural scenes
where I want to show a fluorescent cove light.  I'd like to model the cove
and put a long linear area light inside of it.  Because the diffuse
illumination is the key here, the result, unfortunately, looks more like I
put a point light inside of the cove.

So, should I resort to an actual array of point light sources?

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