DEFINITION - April 2020 - Web

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Cineo’s new Reflex R15 LED light has adopted cooling techniques developed in the computer world. We asked Rich Pierceall, VP, LED Operations, to explain further WATER BORN PRICE TBA

WORDS JULI AN M ITCHELL / PICTURES CI NEO

Can you explain the technology behind creating such a powerful hard light; initially the light source with the nine LED ring segments around the central emitter, and then how you have dealt with the power density leading to high heat density? Thermal density has always been a major physical limitation of any solid-state lighting technology. Although LEDs are 10 times more power efficient than conventional lighting technologies, 80% of the energy consumed is converted into heat. When building a single-source directional fixture we realised that conventional methods would not allow the scaling that we were looking for. Liquid cooling has been employed for computer servers for some time; we adapted this strategy with LEDs by formulating an optically transparent dielectric fluid that we could immerse the LEDs directly into. This patented method gives us vast scaling capabilities for both smaller and larger fixtures in the future. enabled a liquid solution? How easy was is to graft GPU cooling on to LEDs? We built several thermal and physical models of our radial light engine using conventional materials – solid copper, liquid- cooled copper and finally liquid- cooled only. It’s a bit hard to imagine, but the final Reflex core has no heat sink whatsoever, which drastically reduces its weight. What were the choices for cooling the core before you

What was the thinking behind the open faced PAR design – what other designs did you consider? We did consider a Fresnel- style optic initially, but chose a focused parabolic reflector as best suited for the light engine. The light engine has nine concentric zones, so we can create a uniform field in a range from a 15º spot to a 75º flood, as well as offering customisable beam shapes. The parabolic reflector is easily removed and replaced with

soft lighting accessories, and will possibly have other hard reflector options in the future. Are the Reflex's control protocols new, or are they similar to previous light designs? both 8/16 bit protocols and CRMX wireless DMX. To this, we’ve added capabilities for sACN/ARTNet, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth for future-forward communication standards. The R15 protocols include all of the basics: DMX/RDM in

48 DEF I N I T ION | APR I L 2020

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