There has been a proliferation of LEDs in the entertainment lighting industry, including a number of new LED fixtures with various form factors. But the Impression, the latest LED moving yoke wash fixture from Elation, is one of the first moving yoke LED fixtures that can compete with conventional moving yoke fixtures. As such, it serves as a versatile, compact and bright alternative to conventional discharge wash luminaires, combining low power consumption, high efficiency (60 lumens per watt), low heat emission, no UV or IR, long life operation and fast and smooth color fades.
The Impression makes a solid choice as a wash luminaire for many reasons, including its size, weight and speed. The head of the fixture is assembled from die cast aluminum while the yoke of the fixture is constructed from industrial injection molded plastics. These lightweight but strong materials translate into a fixture that weighs in at 16 pounds and can be easily rigged by one person.
The fixture has versatile rigging options and comes with an attractive floor stand that is easily detachable via two Camlock quick-release connectors. Once the base is removed, the fixture can be mounted to a truss with standard half-coupler clamps in virtually any position. It can be mounted with a single half-coupler in a vertical position or with two half-couplers in a horizontal position. With overall dimensions of 14.5 inches by 14 inches by 5.75 inches, the fixture can be mounted on 14-inch centers.
The Impression utilizes stepper motors that allow the unit to pan 660° in less than two seconds and tilt 300° in one second, with smooth and accurate movements in 8- or 16-bit resolution. Optical encoders on both movement axes also provide constant feedback for accurate pan and tilt repeatability.
The Impression has an auto-sensing and power-factor corrected power supply rated at 100V-240V and 50/60Hz. Power is supplied to the mains via a Powercon connector on the base of the unit. Also located in the base are 3-pin XLR connectors for DMX input and output. The backlit graphic LCD control panel gives access to fixture options, diagnostics and addressing and is located in the yoke arm. The drivers for the LEDs and the pan and tilt encoders and motors are also located in the yoke arm, making maintenance of the unit fairly easy. In addition, the fixture has a variable speed fan designed to automatically vary the air flow depending on the internal temperature of the unit, protecting it from overheating.
Through the use of the new K2 Luxeon high performance LEDs, the unit reaches light output in saturated colors comparable to a 575W discharge lamp with at least a 50 percent reduction in power usage. It comes available as an RGB version with 30 LEDs per color producing colors through the whole color spectrum. It also comes in a white LED version featuring 60 cold white and 30 amber LEDs, giving it a range of color temperature control from daylight to tungsten.
Ninety Luxeon K2 LEDs are evenly arranged in a honeycomb pattern, allowing for maximum density and more equal distribution of the three colors. While brightness in open white may fall short of the output of a standard discharge 575W fixture — basic photometric readings show an average 4000 lumens in open white — the Impression is comparable to those same fixtures in terms of light output while using saturated colors.
The Philips Luxeon K2 LEDs used in the fixture are rated up to 50,000 hours, making lamp changes unnecessary and further reducing maintenance requierments by limiting the need to keep the air intake and outlet of the unit clean. (Elation does recommend cleaning the LED lenses from time to time, however.)
Elation also chose to use royal blue LED instead of the standard blue, giving the fixture a way to color-mix some really deep blues and indigos. Pastels on most LED fixtures can be tricky and can appear slightly uneven, and the Impression is no exception. But the Impression does handle saturated color washes as evenly and efficiently as a conventional moving yoke fixture, making this fixture a good fit with live performance applications including concerts and corporate industrials. Other features of the optical system include an interchangeable lens carrier with a standard 10° beam angle and an optional lens carrier with a 25° beam.
The Impression is a DMX512-controlled automated lighting fixture and uses 14 channels in normal mode or 10 channels in compressed mode. The DMX in and out connectors are 3-pin XLR, not standard 5-pin connectors, so make sure you have 3-to-5 pin adapters handy. The built-in LCD menu allows for additional features and settings including manual control for each attribute, color calibration, internal temperature readings, emergency lamp off/on, position feedback, white balance adjustments, DMX input monitoring, invert pan/tilt, and fixture reset options. The fixture also is programmed with effects including a variable rainbow effect, color chaser effects, pan/tilt movement patterns and variable random and periodic strobe functions. A unique color feature of the Impression is its continuous color temperature correction between 3200K-7200K, accessible through a control channel in standard DMX mode.
Because of its light weight and compact size, the Impression has incredibly fast movement. The saturated colors are bright and even, and slow color fades in saturated colors are very uniform. Color changes without crossfade times are fast and snappy. I thought the floor stand and the ease of swapping of the lens carrier were great features as well.
What It Is: a versatile moving head LED wash light
Who It’s For: small to medium sized concerts and corporate industrials, rigs where clusters of fixtures are needed for effect as opposed to massive output (e.g. surrounding a video screen or in a grid for pixel mapping)
Pros: very compact, attractive, lightweight, nice saturated color washes, long life, reduced maintenance
Cons: not quite as bright as conventional discharge fixture in open white; some fan noise
Retail Price: List Price: $6,999.95
