Basically, the face of the fixture that emits the light has four individual LEDs lining each side of the fixture. This is to ensure that the light is directed at the cross members of the truss it is intended to illuminate. There are no LEDs in the center of the face, as the main purpose of this fixture is to bathe the truss in color. Each of the 12 tri-colored cells in the unit consists of three 3-watt red, green and blue LEDs mounted into a reflector. The beauty of using the tri colored LEDs is the user never sees a bunch of different colored LEDs at once that mix to form a colored beam. In these cases, the beam looks good, but the face of the light looks like a rainbow of different colored diodes.
Covering each of these 12 reflectors is a 10-degree lens designed to keep the beam narrow and as bright as physically possible. One could replace these lenses with a medium or wider degree versions, but it would cause much of the light to spread past its intended target and lose intensity on the actual truss. So each of these cubes running in full open white color (all colors at full) will emit 108 watts of simulated white light. Because the fixture utilizes the three colors to mix a white beam, one does notice a slight pink hue to that color. But I found this not to be bothersome at all when lighting the truss.
I have found that when I use conventional RGB LED fixtures to tone trusses, I notice different specs of color reflecting off of the truss as I walk around the room. Bits of blue and red will catch my eye as well as the intended blended color. The use of the tri colored LED as the light source eliminates this, as the truss is all lit in one solid color only. I hooked the fixture up to a console and wrote a few cues. The color changed seamlessly from one hue to another. The light is emitted with a pulse-width modulation of 400 hertz. This is fast enough to eliminate any flicker effects that cameras often pick up from various LED sources. Through the use of one of the various operating modes, I can split the LEDs into two different groups, thus splitting the color evenly. I am able to paint one side of the truss red while the other side is blue at the same time. Always a good attribute when toning trusses.
There are a number of different modes one can operate the Truss Toner in. The fixture features a “program mode,” which consists of various built-in effects. One can choose from a variety of effects to suit the need, whether it is for simple architectural color fades or quicker modulating color changes. One can set the speed of each of these effects as well through the “speed mode.” Also included is a “sound mode” that utilizes an internal microphone. This mic picks up changes in various frequencies as well as beats. I found I could stand next to the fixture and clap. Each time my hands came together, the sound waves caused the fixture to change to another color. This would be handy for nightclub applications as well as musical acts playing a corporate convention. Simply plug the fixture into a wall outlet and you are done.
Of course, one can run this fixture from any lighting console spitting out DMX. The LCD screen on the side of the fixture is easily manipulated. When the fixture is turned on and set in a mode to receive a DMX signal, the LCD screen will flash rapidly, indicating it is not receiving any signal. As soon as it recognizes data it will stop strobing the LCD panel. Sweet attribute. There are several DMX modes one can run the fixture in as well. For instance, in mode 1, the fixture only requires 1 channel of DMX, which can trigger 36 different color macros to change the hue of the light. Mode 2 adds another channel, which controls the dimmer separately from the color.
Mode 4 takes it a step further and allows the user individual control of red, green and blue to mix your own colors. It also features separate channels for dimming and strobe effects. The strobe effects were all various speeds of in sync strobe rates. No random strobe at this time. There are other modes that include color chasing sequences and dimmer curves.
Physically, the fixture is designed to fit in a 12-inch-by-12-inch square box truss, but through another bracket, it can attach to any sized truss. With the side plates that hold it in place, the fixture measures 10.4 by 8.3 inches and is 4.4 inches thick. With its built in power supply, it weighs only 5.5 lbs. The self-sensing power supply can handle anything from 90-240 volts, which it receives through a slick Neutrik twist lock connector included with the fixture. Panel mounted 5 pin XLR connectors are used for DMX input. Both the AC and data have outputs on the fixture for easy daisy-chaining of multiple fixtures. There is also an etherCON connector for future firmware updates to the fixture. The housing is made of aluminum and the fixture is silent, cooled by convection only. The LED lifetime is a minimum of 50,000 hours.
