In the 1990s and into the new millennium, the video industry experienced a “convergence” of sorts when computers, GUIs and Ethernet connectivity slowly invaded all aspects of video products and production workflows. To underscore the revolution, the NAB (National Association of Broadcasters) even named their 2002 convention “The Convergence Marketplace.” Today, there’s hardly a piece of video gear that doesn’t have an IP address.
The rental and staging industry is now in the midst of its own convergence, as video and lighting (working in tandem) are becoming more prevalent in almost every event — from auto shows to corporate gatherings to the concert stage. Often, there’s a video control room backstage, but on an ever-increasing basis, the LD at the lighting console controls both domains via DMX. LDs are becoming highly skilled at complementing (rather than competing with) their new video partners in design. As a side note, many LDs have changed their title to “production designer,” indicating that their skills are not limited to lighting design, but now fully encompass the video realm.
For the lighting industry in particular, where did this convergence begin, and where might it be headed? In truth, the starting point was not a recent event, but can be traced back to a point in 1998 when the industry took a collective gasp. I call them breakthrough moments — key points where an industry shifts in an entirely new direction, and this particular moment marked the beginning of a new category of products called digital lighting. The history is rich — but perplexing.
LSD and the Icon M
In the mid 1990s, a gentleman named Bill Hewlett (not the same Bill Hewlett of Hewlett-Packard fame) owned a business called Hewlett Electronics based in Pasadena, California. For years, he had been working on a digital luminaire — a long-term dream of his. In the late 1990s, his company bought part of a firm called Light and Sound Design (LSD), and as the director of R&D, he brought his technology with him to the new venture. Together, the design team initiated a project to bring Hewlett’s dream to life — to create a lighting fixture built on a foundation of Texas Instruments’ DLP® technology. Dubbed the Icon M, the fixture wasn’t a projector, but a light with a graphics engine at the core.
“The R&D environment at LSD was phenomenal,” said Hewlett. “We weren’t a big R&D engine like High End or Vari*Lite, but we were a tight knit group of guys. Everyone believed in the project, but there were lots of obstacles. Our big break came when we convinced Texas Instruments to back us — to let them supply parts at the chip level. Up to that point, they weren’t even letting projector companies work at chip level,” emphasized Hewlett. “And allowing us to engineer directly with the DMD [Digital Micromirror Device; an array of tilting microscopic electromechanical mirrors under microprocessor control — ed.] enabled us to create a lighting fixture, rather than a projector. When you actually stood in the beam of the Icon M, it felt like a lighting fixture.”
As an important side note, in the process of developing the Icon M, the design team also created the world’s first DMX-controllable media server — which was used to route content to the new digital luminaire.
At LDI in 1998, the project culminated with a private invitation-only showing of the prototype to the top 150 LDs in the industry. The unveiling was an astonishing event — truly a “moment of change.” The key differences between the Icon M and conventional automated lights were immediately evident to the attendees. Whereas a conventional automated light used physical gobos to create shapes, the Icon M used “soft” gobos generated by the media server. Whereas a conventional automated light had a limit to the number of physical gobos onboard (typically from 8 to 20), the Icon M’s server could route hundreds of digital gobos to the fixture.
The list of additional features was equally remarkable — rotating gobos, multiple superimposed gobos, split colors, masks, geometrics, decay effects, true animation and the ability to instantly switch gobos and their associated modification parameters. LSD also obtained a license for the entire DHA catalog of gobos for the on-board gobo library.
With multiple firsts before their eyes, the crowd’s reactions ran the gamut from stunned to slack-jawed awe and astonishment. Here was a glimpse of the future.
Changing the Way You Think
John Lobel, vice president of PRG Lighting, was one of the principles at LSD during the Icon M’s development. He was a key interface between the company’s R&D and management teams and was also instrumental in coordinating the product’s first LDI showing. “It was an honor to call these fantastic LDs and say to them, ‘I need you to come and see the future. I can’t tell you what it is — but it will be worth your time, and it’s something that will change the way you think about lighting.’ During the demo,” continued Lobel, “it was extraordinary to see these people react to something that they had no idea was possible.”
The next year, LSD brought 12 prototypes to the 1999 LDI, with public demonstrations in the booth —once again, to high acclaim. A surviving clip of the demo is currently available. Go to www.plsn.com/DigLight/IconM to view the clip. Although the clip’s resolution is low and the camera was handheld, the video will give you a glimpse of the product’s power, creativity and groundbreaking features.
“We had great response,” said Lobel, “but my favorite quote came from the renowned LD Bob Dickinson. After the demo, he turned to the team’s engineers and said, ‘You win!’”
Momentum Gained and Lost
With such a grand introduction, one could have predicted a success story in the making. Just before the 1998 showing, LSD was acquired by PRG, and this brought funding to the project and the promise of long-term stability. But this promise was not fulfilled.
A series of problems ensued, including marketing issues, serious financial concerns and the fact that the Icon M’s lumen output wasn’t comparable to current conventional automated lights on the market. “The cover story was that there were technical problems,” said Hewlett, “but that’s not the case at all. The only valid issue was that it wasn’t as bright as the market thought they wanted. We had a 1200-watt source, but because there are losses through the DMD and the optics, the output was in the range of a 500-watt fixture. Had we gone to production, and perhaps had been on our third-generation product by now, we would be much brighter than what is on the market today.”
Yes, the Icon M was used on a few tours, and the LDs that used them were enormously grateful for the creative opportunity — but the product was never delivered. However, other products and technologies did evolve from the Icon M’s innovative technology. The product’s original media server was followed the next year by High End System’s Catalyst, which to date has spawned an entire cottage industry of media servers. These servers differ from the broadcast variety in that they are controlled by DMX protocol, rather than by a television station’s automation system. Perhaps more important, they’re built for the road rather than for a fixed installation.
The concept of the digital luminaire also morphed into other products such as High End’s DL.1 and DL.2 — the first commercially available digital lights. These products are essentially projectors and media servers inside stylized moving heads. While they’re dazzling and versatile, they may not embody the spirit of the Icon M, in the true sense of a lighting fixture.
“The industry got caught up in ways to get to market quickly with something like the Icon M,” noted Hewlett, “and that’s where the whole media server concept came in. But our original concept from the very beginning was to stay away from doing a media server — because we wanted to make a theatrical luminaire — not a projector, without racks of computers backstage.”
In the interim years, lighting and video technologies have advanced at a steady pace, particularly in the realm of LEDs for the rental and staging market, but there hasn’t been any real defining moments of change, and certainly none comparable to the Icon M’s introduction. Due to many issues, one of which continues to be international patents and complex licensing laws, products similar to the Icon M have not emerged.
A Pause Along the Timeline, or …
This remarkable timeline begs the question — is digital lighting (in the Icon M sense of the term) a dead technology, or has the industry simply paused along the way to another moment of change? Additionally, would the excitement and buzz still be evident, and would the rental companies and the LDs at the consoles embrace a similar digital lighting product? My opinion is that there is both consensus and optimism throughout the industry.
John Lobel speculates that we might be close to another breakthrough moment. “I think it’s constantly being looked at,” said Lobel. “There are some very smart people looking at it around the world, and hopefully — sooner rather than later — products will be available that utilize these ideas. The projector and yoke products are fantastic and really useful tools,” continued Lobel,” but they’re not a light, and it’s difficult to use them as a light in the way that you use conventional automated lighting.”
Bill Hewlett, now the owner of Sterling Custom Lighting based in South Carolina, was also optimistic. “PRG has tons of intellectual property on this, and I have 42 patents centered on digital lighting myself. Even though they’re assigned to PRG, that is my contribution — it was an all-consuming project. Yet, I would still love to see something happen.”
Lobel, Hewlett and the LSD team showed some of the most imaginative people on Earth something that they’d never seen, and the experience was enormously rewarding. Yet, by not bringing the Icon M to market, a gap remains to this day. Of course, we’ve never been wrong about technology timelines before, have we? (Sarcasm filter off.) Breakthroughs do come — but in their own sweet time.
It may not be kosher to conclude articles with open-ended issues, yet questions still remain about the future of the technology. For example, Robe’s DT5000 is similar to the DL.2, but it has to clear some IP hurdles before it can be marketed in North America.
Assuming there is a solution to any remaining legal issues, a major factor that will accelerate that “moment” is economics combined with the rapid rate at which new technologies are emerging. As Lobel succinctly noted, “It will happen. It’s a matter of when the brightness curve intersects with the cost curve — at an appropriate place for the marketplace. It will be an enormous success and will change the way that everybody works. Until then, it will be a dream that was briefly recognized.”
At the close of our conversation, I asked Lobel if he could foresee anything in his crystal ball — specifically, what form that “technology leap” might take. His answer was wonderfully optimistic when he said, “Mr. Lobel could not be reached for comment.”
Paul Berliner is president of Berliner Productions in Davis, California — a company providing video production and marcom services to the broadcast and entertainment industries. He can be reached at pberliner@plsn.com.
