I had heard the same reason quoted for the change to the lighting on the A320 family.
I must admit that the lighting in the area of the table to be woefully inadequate in comparison to B737/B747's I flew before and since. I always would bend down to check the downlighter filaments before starting a day's work with any night sectors to ensure all elements were working and snag them as appropriate.
To me it is possibly the one area which spoilt an otherwise very user-friendly shorthaul flight deck - oh that and the bl00dy noise of the intercom call
