Are instruments shrinking? Or is bigger still better?
Does Moore’s Law, which dictates that all technology must inexorably move toward a smaller/faster/cheaper paradigm, apply to lighting? Less theoretically, are there dynamics that are compelling the footprint of lighting platforms to shrink, even while they’re demanding that they increase in power and decrease in cost?
Gary Mass, vice president of Business Development at Inner Circle Distribution (Coemar, Compulite and Soft-LED distributor), says the pursuit of the smaller/brighter/lighter light is the Holy Grail of entertainment lighting, one he expects to see more focus on at LDI this year. (It’s also a category in which Coemar will debut a new product later on this year, though Mass declined to be more specific.) But Mass says it’s a particular segment of the user base that’s looking for these attributes, including the theatrical, HOW and corporate sectors. Ironically, the touring sector — which perhaps could benefit the most from lighter-weight moving head fixtures, given the increasing cost of fuel and transport — continues to rely on larger fixtures that offer longer throw distances. “The 700s tend to drop off when you get to the 40- and 50-foot throw distances,” he explains.
But Mass also notes that a current major show chose their Infinity wash unit in part because they wanted a long throw distance of 60 to 150 feet and because the Infinity Wash was smaller in size and lighter weight than other options currently available on the market. “I think that people will put more importance on weight and size in the near future,” he says.
To some, the trend is actually toward larger fixtures to accommodate the increased brightness and feature sets that users want. Bill Morris, executive V.P. at High End Systems, says the company’s new Showgun automated spot/wash fixture, which debuted in June, packs 100,000 lumens into a package slightly larger than existing moving fixtures. He cites larger fixtures from BigLite, Syncrolite and Alpha One, such as the Falcon, and other manufacturers as indications of the trend.
What is changing is the imperative to get more power and features into packages that are the same size or only slightly larger. “What LD wouldn’t want more brightness?” Morris asks, adding that consoles are experiencing expanding girth, as well, thanks to the need for more channels.
High End has made smaller products — Morris cites the Studio Command 1200 wash— which retained a large aperture and lots of lumens while reducing its footprint. And while he says it’s been a good seller and a useful differentiator product, he notes that, “We didn’t make it smaller because the market demanded it; we made it smaller because we could” — an exercise in engineering as much as anything.
Michael Carattini, national sales manager for the house of worship sector at Robe America, says the size requirement varies according to market sector. “Broadway and theatre want smaller fixtures to deal with smaller spaces, but the arena users don’t care about size, just about power and features,” he explains.
While industry execs expect the technology to continue to push in the smaller/lighter direction, Carattini points out that there’s a thermal barrier that’s difficult to cross. “The problem with smaller units is that they’re harder to cool off,” he explains. “The brighter the light, the more air it needs to cool. If you put too much power in too small a space, you’ve got heating issues. I think to counter that you’ve got to go beyond electro-mechanical technology and go to digital. We’ll get there, but it’s a pretty big chasm from now to then.”
Eric Loader, director of sales at Elation Professional/Acclaim Lighting, believes that fixture size will decrease as technology finds more ways to pack more features into smaller packages and deal with heat issues. “This will continue to drive development and more use of the products,” he states. And that, in turn, will drive larger automated lighting systems, as more individual fixtures can be packed into trucks. “Truck pack is always a major concern in touring budgets, so any time you can source a smaller fixture, that equals more fixtures in the truck and on the rig. This is where optical and lamp advancements will help these requirements.”
Tony Hansen, resident LD at Techni-Lux, says the demand for additional features and power is pushing for larger, heavier units, particularly with hybrid units that add a second set of optics. But there are, he says, products that buck the trend, such as Techni-lux’s Genio Mobile, which uses an LED light source. “It’s miniature by comparison; the biggest change, other than the LEDs themselves, was going to electronic ballast — that took the weight off,” says Hansen, who adds that the device was developed to address weight-sensitive mobile users. “I think there’s an implicit Catch-22 when it comes to weight. On one hand, customers always want more power and more features. On the other hand, they will always want to add another point or two on a truss, and that’s a matter of weight.”
Hansen says transportation costs and corporate budgets have put more emphasis on smaller, lighter units. LEDs offer a possible solution; however, he says LEDs remain a specialized lighting product that can’t cover every application. “LED puts lighting into places we never had it before, but it’s not necessarily replacing anything,” he says. “It can’t replace a PAR can, so it’s not a viable alternative for everything.”
Fred Foster, CEO of ETC, says it’s difficult to get users to trade off feature sets for size or weight. “Motors weigh a certain amount, optics drive unit sizes to a large extent, and the type of filament also determines size and weight,” he explains. “LED technology isn’t ready to replace most conventional theatrical light fixtures, and with the few it can achieve a level of parity with, like washes, it’s not cost-effective to buy or operate, undercutting any shipping cost reductions.”
That said, though, Foster acknowledges that there is some demand for bigger things in smaller packages. “We supply about 260,000 dimming channels per year, and we’re not losing any business because someone is offering the market a smaller light,” he says. “But there is an argument to be made for a 1,200-watt dimmer instead of a 2,400-watt one. You could save money with smaller load cables.”
Moore’s Law will not be denied, however. If this year’s fuel price spikes are sustained, and other shipping prices pressures continue (the trucking industry reports it is short 20,000 drivers at midyear), R&D will kick it up a notch to find ways to make the package smaller and lighter.
E-mail Dan at ddaley@plsn.com.
