Let it be known that a manufacturer has finally built a hard edge moving light with an LED source that’s brighter than the 1200W discharge fixtures now on the market. Barco-owned High End Systems has proven that their SolaSpot Pro 1500 fixture has the horsepower to outshine most of the top selling fixtures others offer while only using a 400-watt white LED light source.
The Hardware
High End made a commitment to LED technology by discontinuing their manufacturing of fixtures that utilize discharge lamps. That led to the design of a range of LED fixtures, one of which was the original, smaller SolaSpot Pro CMY. That fixture was produced to compete with the 700-800 watt fixture market. But now High End chose to design an LED fixture that has every bell and whistle one can want in a hard edge fixture, and competes in the 1200-watt range of discharge fixtures. The difference is you will probably never have to change the light bulb.
I remove the fixture from its road case (each fixture ships in a single case included in the MSRP) and notice two retractable handles that make it easier to handle. While they weigh in at 87 pounds, these babies are compact. They are 33 inches long with a much smaller 15.3-by-12.6-inch base.
I plug the PowerCON connector in and attach an XLR cable for DMX. The autosensing power supply recognizes 100-240V AC, and the fixture can run off of DMX or RDM commands. I do not have to strike a bulb as the fixture calibrates, and I address it easily through the LCD control on the back. The lamp life of this LED Engine is 50,000 hours if you run it at 70 percent intensity. There is no shutter on this fixture. All the dimming and strobe functions are electronically controlled. So when the intensity is set at zero, the user is not using up any of the lamp life.
Revolutionary is synonymous with HES again, as they developed a heated front lens for the SolaSpot fixture line. By doing this, fog juice and other elements dissipate from the fixture, protecting the lens life and keeping the brightness intact. Because there are no fans in the front for air intake, the interior stays relatively free of dust and built up fog juice. Sure, there are fans to cool the LED engine and blow out heat, but they are incredibly silent. I can barely hear them, but can definitely feel the forced air emitting from the fixture.
The Beam
The dimming curve is perfectly linear as I fade it up. As the beam of light slowly appears on a wall 25 feet away, I notice an incredibly flat field. At full brightness, this LED light source is emitting a perfect full circle of light that I measure at 6500°K. There is no hot spot in the center of the beam. I do not detect any bluish edges to the white spot on the wall. It is zoomed to its smallest size at 8°. My meter is getting a reading of 10,000 lux. There is no doubt that this fixture is indeed emitting over 20,000 lumens out of its 400W bright white LED engine. Running at 120V, the fixture draws 7 amps. Strobe-wise, this fixture executes all the common functions one expects from a mechanical strobe.
The zoom widens to 45° quickly. There is also an iris. I can zoom and iris down to a pencil beam of light. There are two gobo wheels, one with six rotating slots and a static wheel with another seven. The static wheel can shake. They are all replaceable. High End has kept with their tradition of supplying interesting colored gobos as well as aerial break out selections in the rotating wheel. The static wheel has variations on some standard cone and texture choices. I do notice there is an option to put the focus lens in auto focus so when I zoom the light beam from small to large, the gobo image will stay sharp. It works when I test it.
The Color
This is where this beauty excels. The SolaSpot 1500 uses dual CMY color flags to shift color. The deep amber is a perfect full orange colored beam as opposed to a beam that resembles hues of red, orange and yellow at once. Mixing colors is indeed a little different in this fixture. I assumed that color-mixing green would equate in a dark barely usable color as with most discharge fixture color systems. I have no idea how they did it, but the green light emitted from this fixture is as bright and lively as any green coming straight from an RGB LED. I have never seen a mixed green that comes remotely close to this brightness, in any fixture.
Of course, the fixture has a color wheel for deep saturated colors. The wheel offers the ability to use half colors and spins in various speeds for a rainbow effect. One can add a variable CTO mix to add to any color. It too is perfectly flat as it is added to the light beam. At 50 percent value, I notice a flawless, even field of half CTO color. Following the signature of High End’s LED fixtures are the Indigo emitters. Individual blue LEDs are mounted on the face of the fixture. The blue eye candy effect can be turned on or off by the console.
Bells and Whistles
The framing system utilized in this fixture shows a new twist by using full frame wipes as a way to black out or reveal an object in a different way. Each of the four shutters can physically block the entire light output by itself. They move incredibly fast, and a user can make shapes from thin shafts of light to triangular beams. The shutter assembly rotates 45°.
The fixture offers a variable frost that works great either fading or bumping in. It reveals a hidden gobo on the wall smoothly. A 3-facet prism can rotate in either direction. Lastly, the fixture boasts an animation bar, which can be used to simulate water and fire effects by moving backwards and forwards. They had no room to put a full animation wheel for continuous rotation of this effect. Movement-wise, I found the 540° pan and 270° to be smooth and accurate. The fixture executed a circle effect at a reasonable fast speed. The fixture can snap from one direction to another with minimal lag time.
At a Glance
Changing the Game, Again
I am excited to finally see a company step up their LED output to not only match but exceed the lumens kicked out of discharge models. I witnessed a shootout between the SolaSpot 1500 and six other 1200W discharge fixtures. It blew each of them away. High End Systems has indeed added to their reputation as a game changer in the lighting fabrication market. —NS
SolaSpot Pro 1500
PROS: Pure white 6500K beam. 20,000 lumen output out of an LED Engine. Solid color mixing. Fantastic shutter effects. Road case included in affordable price.
CONS: An animation bar instead of a continuous wheel.
MSRP: $9,995
More Info: www.highend.com
