WIDGET Award – Hubbell: Twist-Lock® Edge Series
Recognized for improving speed and safety for wiring and maintaining the connectors used in our daily work. Their spring tension terminal technology is a simple but substantial upgrade to an age-old design. Improve installation time by more than 80% on electrical projects with Twist-Lock® Edge series receptacle, plugs and flanged inlets, featuring screwless terminations. Strong levered springs inside the device continue to apply pressure as strands relax over time for a reliable connection. The design keeps wires tight, improving connections in the most demanding environments.
Special Effects Award – hazebase: THE FAB Hazer
Recognized for having several innovations to haze technology, including improvements in fluid technology, cleaning technology, sensors that tell you when it needs fluid, versatile hang-ability, and QR codes for manuals and MSDS. THE FAB Hazer is only two rack spaces high, fits in a 19” Amptown road case, and has a 2.8” full-color touchscreen display for easy programming. Two blades in front can orientate the direction of the haze output. Two axial fans can be controlled from 0-100% and are extremely quiet. It also features 10/100 Mbps Ethernet with integrated two-port switch. Control options are Art-Net, sCAN, DMX512, and RDM.
Special Effects Honorable Mention – PMIGear: The Smoke Genie
Recognized as a game-changing handheld smoke machine for creators, Smoke Genie is a compact, handheld, battery-powered smoke machine that produces a patented fog / haze / low-hanging fog / dry ice effect—all from one device. The Smoke Genie can produce up to 500 CFM of output and features include easy to replace, rechargeable batteries; food-safe smoke formula; zero waiting / boiling time; cinematic haze with a long hangtime; and a “liquid smoke” dry ice texture. Smoke Genie is distributed in North America by Inner Circle Distribution.
Staging & Rigging Award – Harlequin Floors: Liberty® Switch
Recognized for saving an enormous amount of time and money changing over to sprung floors. Liberty® Switch is an innovative professional multi-use floor system that switches from rigid to sprung—in minutes—just with the touch of a button. Liberty Switch is comprised of base units, with drive and control mechanisms, topped with Harlequin Liberty® LatchLoc sprung floor panels. This transformation is achieved by using moving carriages which engage with stop blocks on the underside of the panels to create a rigid floor and disengage to create a sprung floor. The modular system can be custom designed to incorporate features such as traps, lifts, and revolves as required.
Projection Award – Shenzhen Muxwave Technology: Transparent LED Screen
Recognized for its almost invisible LED surface and because of its total lack of internal vertical support, there is nothing interrupting the visual storytelling for the audience. Muxwave was demonstrating an LED scrim material that is also ultra-light weight and innovative in its execution. The M3 screen has a pixel pitch of 3.91mm, has a transparency of 80%, and weighs 6kg/m2. The flexible design of the standard modules can be bent, cut, or used flexibly.
Lighting Control Award – TMB: ProPlex BuckBoost™ Drive System
Recognized for the ProPlex BuckBoost™ Drive System that overcomes the cable length challenge of low voltage LED lighting by centralizing both data and power through a single cable. The patent-pending technology in the system is completely programmable making it a simple installation for any electrical contractor. This new system allows centralized and remote (up to 150m) location of drives, mains power and PSU’s. The proprietary BuckBoost drive signal is carried over a small cable, sized equivalent to a mic cable, from a remote BoostBox™ to a small inconspicuous BuckBox™ located adjacent to the fixture.
Lighting Control Honorable Mention – LumenRadio: CRMX Stardust
Recognized for being capable of delivering eight DMX/RDM universes and expanding the function of Cognitive-Coexistence with LumenRadio’s new Fleet Alliance. Stardust takes industry leading CRMX technology to the next level with the introduction of features for the most demanding situations. It has an enhanced radio design that allows for record-breaking ranges on all eight universes simultaneously. Fleet Alliance enables expansion of universes beyond eight as the transmitters automatically coordinates the spectrum, without the need for frequency planning. The onboard WiFi and Ethernet provides configuration via web portal.
Lighting Fixture Award – Robert Juliat: Sully 4C
Recognized for having an interactive color-control system that allows users to create the exact color and fade characteristics emulating any type of lighting fixture. The Robert Juliat Sully 4C series, including profile and Fresnel spots, is an affordable and versatile product range. The Sully 4C 200W LED source (Red, Blue, Green, Lime) incorporates RJ Color, a new integrated software platform designed to offer multiple functions and controls. Color control includes CIE XY, Hue saturation, RGB, or RAW modes; calibrated white sources reproducing 3,000K or 3,200K tungsten lamps, or 6,500K discharge lamps; and color temperature adjustment from 1,700K to 10,000K.
Lighting Fixture Honorable Mention – MARTIN: MAC Aura XIP
Recognized as a premium moving head wash light with a radical Aura filament effect and full pixel control with video mapping capabilities onto the beam, Aura, or both. The MAC Aura XIP includes 12 Radical RGBW filaments for a brighter aura backlight effect. It has an IP44 rating and optional high CRI / TM-30 / TLCI modes, LED frequency control for a flicker-free even wash light, RGBW color mixing, and multiple control options. Also included are variable calibrated color temperature control, 200+ built-in FX macros, fast movement, an 8.8˚ – 49.3˚ zoom range, and weighs 19.62 lbs. (8.9 kg).
Floor Buzz – Minuit Une: IVL Photon
Minuit Une, the French lighting manufacturer, which is distributed in North America by Inner Circle Distribution was showing off a very interesting, laser-powered light—the IVL Photon up in its demo room. I had quite a few people tell me to go see it. After seeing it myself, I recommended it to many others as well! Classified as Class 3R, the IVL Photon is a laser-based light that is as safe as LED: it can be used in unsupervised areas according to the international standard (IEC 60825-3), without permit or specific training, and also variance-free in the USA. The IVL Photon has three main outputs: tilt mirrors, frosts, and its spinning, moving core. It weighs 35 lbs., measures 19” in diameter, and draws 200W. It’s quite an interesting effects light that you should check out.
Littlite: Gooseneck Task Lamps
Littlite lights are compatible with all major lighting and sound consoles with a dedicated, 12V task light connector. Littlite gooseneck console lights—with either LED or halogen lamps—are available with BNC, TNC, straight and right angle XLR connectors in three and four pin configurations. Littlite is available with 6”, 12”, 18”, and 24″ gooseneck lengths. It is recommended to check your owner’s manual for power compatibility (Voltage and Amperage draw) before connecting a task light to your console. Littlite lights come with a limited lifetime warranty. You can find the right light for your console here: www.littlite.com/console.
Cool Legacy – Brompton Technology: The First Tessera M2 Processor
Brompton Technology was celebrating its 10th Anniversary while at LDI. In a fitting nod to this milestone, Brompton had some key items on display from the past decade, including its very first Tessera M2 LED processor. With serial number 001001, this M2 was shipped on November 19, 2012, to video equipment rental company, VER (now PRG). This particular M2 processor was first used on the Super Bowl XLVII broadcast in 2013 and is actually still a working processor in PRG’s rental inventory today—a testament to the durability and reliability of Brompton products.
The legacy of that first M2 processor is readily apparent in its latest software upgrade—Tessera Software v3.4, released in November 2022. This software release introduces new features including Extended Bit Depth and Stacking, to help boost both LED panel performance and production efficiencies. Extended Bit Depth unlocks up to 3.3 additional bits of precision, which offers two to three stops of additional dynamic range on camera, and also reduces visual artifacts. Stacking streamlines production by allowing for multiple processors in a setup to be controlled together in unison, rather than users having to apply adjustments to each processor individually. Brompton intentionally displayed this technology in their booth using six year old LED panels to best show off the advantages of the Tessera Software v3.4’s features.
