From The Horse's Mouth

By now, you know that we are adding more and more LED source fixtures. We feel that it is the future (and the present) in entertainment lighting. Here is a very interesting article asking leading designers from various fields about their opinions on where lighting is going. Take some time and read it.
http://www.metropolismag.com/story/20111215/leading-luminaries

Multiform HP3-90

We are excited to announce 2 new LED units that are now available, the Multiform HP3-90 and HP5-70! Both units are  IP20 rated but also available in an IP65 version. IP20 MSRP is $595.00! The LEDs include genuine Neutrik™ powerCON power in and out connectors, are flicker free for TV-camera compliance, have a robust diecast body with UV-resistant PE powder coating, and much more!

The HP3-90 is a 90 watt RGB unit and and the HP5-70 is a 70 watt RGBAW unit.

Two great units that are reliable, affodrable, and colorful!

The other day, I was at a Home Depot looking at the new LED lamps sources for my living room. I was amazed at all of the new information that the manufacturers include with them now. In the old days they listed wattage and voltage (12 or 110). As we moved into fluorescents, they added cool white and sometimes daylight white (full spectrum) info. Now with LED sources, we have lumen output (pretty important to know how bright they are), wattage (and comparisons to incandescent and fluorescent sources), and very important-color temperature! I really liked a 950 lumen at a color temp of 5000 “A style” lamp replacement but it was $29 then right next to it, there appeared to be the same lamp but in a different colored carton. It was an 850 lumen lamp with a color temperature of 2500 selling for $25. I consider myself fairly savvy to LED sources but I still cannot figure out the reason for the differences in the versions. Most folks will buy the cheaper one but won’t understand the differences in warm and cool sources until they place the lamp in the same room as a cool LED source.

As theatre lighting designers, specifiers, dealers it is our job to educate the consumers about the new options that are available. In entertainment lighting, we are offered warm and cool LED color temps as well as RGB, RGBAW,RGBA, RGBW (YIKES!). While having all of the colors is the ideal situation, the reality is most folks don’t have the money to purchase the top of the line gear and may never have a need for the “full color” options. You may be lighting a display or statue at a museum and the cool or warm color temp fixture would do the job perfectly for less money. One can also consider using a color correction filter (gel or dichroic) to correct and match sources. What I am saying is, be creative and use that mind that has been analyzing and blending lighting colors for years. We have been trained in our professions to adapt for this new technology! It should be fun.

My solution to the living room color temp issue, I bought the brighter and cooler color temp LED lamp and used a double socket to add it to a warmer 450 lumen LED lamp (that was on sale for $10). Total wattage of 24 watts. My family, who hates my obsession with changing over to LED sources, still hasn’t noticed the change (and I’m certainly NOT going to tell them!)

Apollo offers several different LED fixtures from an RGBAW bright flood fixture to a warm 50 watt LED Fresnel and a 50 watt cool LED framing spot. Go to the website and take a look!

At the LDI New Product Breakfast we launched a new product video on the Multiform HP3-90 and HP5-70 LED units. Both will be available mid December. More information to come!

So, sit back, relax and check out the creative works from Blue Pony and learn a little about our new HP3-90 and HP5-70 LED units.

LEDs and video projection are two new technologies that are very popular with a lot of new products being released, almost seems  daily. Everybody is waiting for the ultimate fixture that is as bright and inexpensive as a standard incandescent fixture. It will happen someday but I think we are cheating ourselves a bit. Eventually, all theatre fixtures will be LED driven but that day is WAAAAAY off. Think about it, the development costs on the LED sourced fixtures have to be paid back somehow and a new LED fixture introduced today can be old technology within 6 months to a year at the speed of the developments. We should supplement our brighter incandescent fixtures with the dimmer LED versions to save setup times and create color mixing capabilities.

(continue reading…)

As you read specifications for the new LED fixtures, there is a new term that we rarely saw with the conventional theatre lighting fixtures of yesteryear. An IP-65 (IP stands for ingress protection) rating indicates the fixture is suitable for using outdoors and is water and dust resistant. Obviously, if you take your standard Fresnel out in the yard and run it during a rainstorm, it is not going to last very long. So, do you need an IP-65 rated fixture if the unit probably won’t be used outside? I say yes! In most cases, you won’t have a choice. The manufacturers are making these units to suit two industries, the architectural lighting field and the entertainment lighting field. The architectural lighting field use the fixtures to light features or walls on the exterior of buildings or as indoor accent lighting . The sealed feature will eliminate dust and dirt getting into the fixture and will lessen the maintenance time required. The IP-65 units are more solidly built in many instances as well. The other industry that the fixtures are targeted for is the entertainment lighting industry for use in theatres, arenas, dance clubs, and other venues. So, why would I need a water resistant and sealed fixture in my dry and clean theatre? In most cases, the IP-65 rated fixture will NOT have any cooling fans (they push moisture into the case—baaaaad) so the lack of a fan means a much quieter fixture that can be used in a smaller theatre house. It also eliminates the dreaded statement from the director, “Ummm, what’s that humming noise that I keep hearing?” These IP-65 cases usually have larger metal cases on them as they are the heat dissipation component. As fixtures get brighter, look for cases to get larger to “wick away” the dreaded heat from the electronics and LED sources. Heat is quite fatal with LED components. Another specification to look at is the usable lamp life expectancy. Sometimes manufacturers will drop the usable hours (where the LEDs maintain close to the same color temperature as when they were new) to make up for the extra heat factor. They may also list the ambient temperature with the hours as a reference. It is a delicate balance between lumen output, heat buildup, and heat dissipation styles to create today’s LED fixtures. In the old days, we would just hang a light inside or outside regardless of the temperature and run with it, soon we will have to take the environment where the lights will be hung into consideration.

With the advent of RGB,RGBA,RGBWA LED fixtures, there is a new flexibility in color in lighting out there. By mixing the aforementioned colors, you can theoretically create any color in a swatchbook. This is a bit tricky when trying to match with incandescent sources and gel colors. It is possible to get very close and in some cases, spot on. Another alternative is to use a Smart Color Pro color scroller with a white only LED fixture. The single color fixtures are usually much brighter than the multicolor LED fixtures. By permanently mounting a piece of color correction to “warm up” the cooler LED sources to match the incandescent sources, you will not be fussing with color mixing three primaries. The added benefit is that the scrollers can still be used on the existing incandescent fixtures when the LEDs are used elsewhere or when they are gelled in only one color. Until someone manufactures an affordable and bright RGB or RGBWA, the color scroller (Smart Color Pro) on the bright and white LED fixture is a viable alternative.

As I read up on the current LED products in the lighting biz, I came across some new terminology that I haven’t encountered before. These are terms that have been created to show the different operational facets of LED fixtures. Some are also marketing terms to create interest in the product and to point out a problem that some of us never knew existed. “Google” some of these.

Amber shift (aka Red Shift) Flicker Free
LED droop LED Frequency
Inrush Stand Alone fixture
Tricolor Pixel Control
HSV HSIC (a DMX Mode)
RGB Upgradable Firmware
RGBA Remote DMX Addressing
RGBWA Pixelization
LED Blocks Square Law Dimming Curve
CDA (Current Drive Array) Tungsten Response Time
ROHS Compliant
PMMA lens
IP 65 (an easy one)
Master/ Slave mode
PowerCon connectors (hint: Neutrik)
Chipset
Half Intensity Angle

Some of these terms are carryover from moving fixtures but for many in the low budget theatre industry, they may be new terms. A few of these terms were new to me as I ran through the gamut of LED fixtures out there. Do some research and figure out what features are important to you.

With the new multi light source LED fixtures coming out these days, there has been some attention paid to the multiple color shadows that they produce. Whether it is due to RGB LED clustering or separate LED chipsets, there can be a bit of color separation. From my days in lighting design, I rarely had issues with shadows of odd colors. There was a bit of separation between the cool and warm washes and occasionally an RGB issue if a dancer got too close to the cyc but it was never a big issue. As you are evaluating the numerous LED fixtures coming out keep in mind that color separation is a fairly minor issue when used with many fixtures of a stage wash. There are a lot of new lighting technologies that don’t follow the traditional lighting technologies we have become accustomed to.

Thought this was a great article on white-light LEDs  and what they bring to the future.  Enjoy!