Andrew Chesters wrote:
wrote:
Serious hype, not serious attention. LEd lighting will not be taken up
any day soon by lighting professionals. This press release is aimed
directly at those without lighting expertise.
snip
but not to a stage lighting forum. There is REAL interest, and many
products already in the market place. Chromabank is just the first to
spring to mind http://www.pulsarlight.com/ChromaBank.htm
They're not really being touted for their ability to produce white
light, but because they can be driven as colour mixing units.
Hmm. Yes, they are being used quite a lot in big-budget stage lighting
applications (because most theatres still can't afford them). IMHO this
is mostly because they are the newsest and trendyest thing, so every
show wants to be seen to be using them. It's rare to find them in use
out of sight!
The colour-mixing LED battens that are seen on TOTP, etc., are really
only an update of 1930s (?) technique. In those days we had battens of
150W tungsten lamps on three or four circuits, in which you put
different colours. Frequently those colours were RGBW, to allow for
colour mixing.
Then the same was done with linear halogen floods. This was much
brighter and, with an asymmetric reflector, more useful for lighting cloths.
Then the same was done with MR-16s ("zip strips"). This was a dramatic
improvement because the individual cells (each lamp) were so much
smaller, and so more closely spaced. This made it much easier to get a
smooth wash at a short throw distance.
The same thing is now being done with LEDs. They are an even smaller
source, meaning that
(a) You can get a smooth wash in any colour from really close. I've seen
them used in conference lighting by laying a strip of them along the
bottom of the backdrop, touching the flats.
(b) The sources are small enough that from a distance, the eye doesn't
see the individual colours. Same effect as an LED video screen, and
useful if you're shining them toward the audience, as they simply see a
colour-changing light rather than lots of little RG&B sources being mixed.
Both of these are valid reasons for using LEDs. But IMHO, there are only
a very few applications where this justifies their cost.
The entertainment application where I think LEDs will be very useful is
one that receives less attention, and that is as a replacement for fibre
optics in starcloths and other effects. The point of light is nearly as
small, and there is no external box with a noisy fan and a hot lamp to
worry about. An LED starcloth was on show last September at PLASA, and I
think we'll be seeing a lot more of them.
--
"This book is dedicated to my brilliant and beautiful wife
without whom I would be nothing. She always comforts and
consoles, never complains or interferes, asks nothing, and
endures all. She also writes my dedications." - Albert Malvino
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Simon Waldman, UK email:
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