Road Tests

The image of a katana is one of refined elegance, a gracefully curved blade so sharp as to cut the very air before it. Like its namesake, the Katana from DTS Lighting aims to provide a sharp and dramatic blade of light cutting through the darkness, but it’s more than just a linear batten — the Katana comes with a few tricks to keep things interesting. DTS is an Italian company that has been in the lighting business since the 1980s, and this is their first motorized linear batten light. The form factor here is typical of some other motorized battens — a linear “head” with the LED dies and optics, and a base with the power supply, menu system and electronics.

Ever since I saw a Police reunion show a few years ago, I have had visions of moles on steroids. They had giant 9-lite moles that looked like they had par 56 bulbs in them as opposed to the normal par 36 bulbs we see in blinders. I thought to myself ten years ago, “Why doesn’t someone just make a “Build your own Blinder kit?”

It’s become trite by now to point out just how much light-emitting diodes have changed things, and matured as a technology. The difference in every quantifiable variable we can look at in a light — the color rendering and gamut, the dimming, the brightness — has come so far as to make most comparisons to the very first LED devices designed for production laughable. Today, LED-based fixtures are beginning to challenge even large-format moving lights.

LDI 2016 was populated by many memorable displays and booths, not the least eye-catching of which was a giant (playable) Rock ‘em Sock ‘em Robots display built by Blizzard Lighting and ModTruss. The Wisconsin-based company has been involved in the lighting industry since 2010, when they sold their first fixture, the Flurry.

Ayrton might be likened to the Apple of the LED lighting fixture world, creating fixtures we didn’t know that we wanted until we saw them. The utility of a moving-head strobe may not be immediately clear, and at first blush the idea of a pixel-mappable moving head strobe seems — perhaps — a little over the top. But play with the MagicBurst™ for an afternoon, or even a few minutes, and that opinion might change. While the concept is simple enough on the surface, there’s greater depth here than might be immediately apparent.

Astera has been in the wireless LED luminaire market for some time now, with their flagship AX line of lights leading the market in terms of reliability, ease of deployment and use and cost effectiveness. Today, we’re looking at the Astera AX1 Pixel Tube, a linear cylinder of LED lights.

Robe, the well-known lighting manufacturer based in the Czech Republic, continues to deliver innovative products. They certainly followed through again this time with the LED WashBeam. Yes, I said it, LED Beam fixture! Has LED finally reached the capacity to fully replace discharge lamps? Not quite, but we are getting closer.

It was just a few months ago that I was looking at the spot version of this light, the Scenius Spot (PLSN, March 2016, page 62). It impressed me then; Clay-Paky is known for their high quality fixtures, and this one was no exception, with excellent dimming and color mixing. This time, we look at the Profile version of the Scenius, intended to fill a role needing additional beam control and shaping — particularly useful in theatrical contexts, or as front lighting for actors and scenery.

I recently had the pleasure of programming the Chauvet booth for InfoComm 2016. I was able to use the newest fixtures that the Florida-based company had to offer. The Maverick MK2 Spot especially impressed me. I didn’t even realize that it was an LED fixture until I was told half way through the day. I’ve known Chauvet to be the less expensive alternative to other manufacturers for years. This fixture has made me rethink my perception of Chauvet in several ways. Chauvet’s Professional product line is continuing the trend that the Nexus Panel started, taking Chauvet off of the alternate list and moving them to the preferred list.

What is ColorSource? Electronic Theatre Controls (ETC) has given birth to a family of products that is continually growing. It started with an only child, a Par (wash) fixture, followed by spot fixture. Wireless DMX and relays shortly joined. Now, new to the family, is a series of four consoles: the CS20 and CS40 (reviewed here) and the soon-to-be-released CS20AV and CS40AV. (We’ll probably be kicking the tires of the AV consoles at some point down the road.)

Every once in a while, a product hits the scene that gets a lighting designer’s blood pumping. That’s because it’s a product that nobody else has even thought of making and it’s fresh and, for lack of a better description, “really cool.” Such is the case with the Medusa, a four-headed beast of a fixture from Mega-Lite that is made to provide eye candy and dazzling effects. Picture a Lazy Susan on your dining room table. Remove the food items and put small moving head beam lights spaced evenly across the outside — four individually controlled fixtures that have an incredibly bright light source (Philips Platinum 5R bulb). Then you spin the Lazy Susan. You get the idea.

You probably recognize the name of the France-based lighting manufacturer, Robert Juliat, for their followspots. The company has now developed a purpose-built cyclorama wash light, the Dalis 860. (It’s spelled differently, but pronounced just like the city in Texas.) The fixture boasts a double row of 24 LEDs, an eight color mixing system and a new rigging method. Let’s dig a little deeper to see what makes this unit so innovative.