LED INNOVATIONS GE AR .
DMG Lumière Maxi Mix has a dedicated triple yoke, which gives a sizeable output – while the Litepanels yoke can hold four. “800W of LED with a focused beam angle is quite a powerful offering,” Herbert says. Much like Aputure, advanced connectivity has been an area of recent development for Litepanels. Here, integration into data-heavy environments remains the focus. “Our approach to control is the Apollo Bridge,” Herbert continues. “It’s something of a translation point. You can be working at a console or through the app – running Art-Net, sACN or whatever you prefer – and when you run it through the Apollo, it will convert the input and speak to all the fixtures wirelessly or via DMX. Essentially, it’s a centralised communication point for all the different protocols. If you choose to work wirelessly, the device dynamically hops between 2.4G and 5G to avoid interference.” THE FUTURE LOOKS BRIGHT There was one resounding prediction shared by all of our experts – LED is only set to improve. There are continued requests for extra power, smaller designs and more customisable control over output and interface.
Virtual dawn Extended reality by way of LED volume has been popularised of late through noteworthy productions, including The Mandalorian . The dynamic LED panels around which the set-up is built differ greatly to standard LED sources used as key lights. Instead, they produce realistic reflections on people and objects, and serve as convincing backdrops when viewed out of sharp focus. Despite being cutting-edge technology, continued advancement is going full steam ahead, at the hands of leading manufacturers such as Roe Visual. “Panels like our BP2V2 contain thousands of pixels per decimetre, which is key in presenting a detailed image,” explains Tim Hamberg, technical support engineer. “Our panels are driven by video generated in a media server. Input is run through a processor, which divides the image and sends it to the individual panels in the array. “Any LED panel’s performance is determined by the quality of the LEDs, the type of driver IC and the receiver card. To understand the working of LED, you need to understand that driver IC capacity, scan rate, brightness and performance are related and balance each other. The driver IC controls the LED to display required brightness; more of these means better performance is achievable.”
Currently, as LEDs get brighter, quality is lost, so it’s only logical that quality will lead the way. We have reached astounding levels, but that hasn’t stopped our industry before. Someone is already working on the next game-changer, but who that is remains under wraps. Cohesion, too, will only get better in answer to greater demand. With fixtures serving more varied functions than ever, communication – as well as the capacity to share colour space and broader information – is nothing less than a necessity. If one thing is certain, it’s that filmmakers will have more creative potential than ever before within coming years. We, for one, cannot wait to see the results.
engine, Spectra, there’s plenty of internal wizardry – but the most enabling innovation of all is its interchangeable lens capabilities. Via a Quick Lighting Mount system, the Orbiter uses optics to alter the quality of light, meaning output and colour integrity of the emission never change. With 15°, 30° and 60° options available, everything from a soft glow to an intensely directional beam can be achieved. A docking ring accommodates third-party options. Of course, another means of increasing intensity without reducing light quality is to simply rig multiple fixtures – a point of development for almost every manufacturer today. Rosco’s
TRUE COLOURS The Quasar Science Double Rainbow (below left) is meticulously designed, for a fixture that makes advanced colour science highly user-friendly
“It’s a centralised communication point for all of the protocols. If you work wirelessly, the device hops between 2.4G and 5G”
45. MARCH 2022
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