by
Steve Roudebush
| Dec 02, 2014
Hi Everyone!
Just before the Turkey Day holiday, we returned from LDI 2014 in Las Vegas. It was a solid few days meeting with industry friends, customers, and manufacturers. We visited a crazy number of booths to check out the latest product offerings and to see what is coming in 2015! Over a couple of blog posts, we'll highlight some of the gear that caught our eye and may be of interest to you, our customer.
Let's get started!
ETC ColorSource PAR
ETC has developed a number of feature-rich LED products since acquiring Selador. Those advanced features came at a bit higher price point than many users starting out with LEDs could afford. With the ColorSource PAR, ETC brings you a high-quality, made-in-the-USA product with a baseline feature set that gets the job done at a cost-effective price point. Features PowerCon in/thru, 5-pin DMX in/thru, thermal droop compensation, standalone operation, RDM capability, low-noise fan cooling, homogenized optics, and more. ColorSource PAR offers an easy-to-use RGB control mode that automatically uses special lime and extra red LED emitters in the array to achieve an expansive color palette beyond traditional RGB fixtures. Expect these to ship in early January! Coming soon to the BMI webstore. Here is the ColorSource PAR page on ETC's website.
Chauvet Professional ED-190WW LED Profile
Chauvet Professional demonstrated new LED fixtures in the Ovation line that can run off constant power w/DMX signal (typical for LEDs) OR run off a standard dimmed circuit (not typical for LEDs!). This "hybrid" approach allows you to use the fixture as a direct swap for a traditional incandescent fixture position without running dedicated power or re-configuring dimmer/relay racks. The auto-sensing electronics take care of figuring out what power is supplied to the unit and adjusts accordingly. The ED-190WW LED Profile features 190 watts of warm white LED punch that compares favorably to 575W tungsten units. Crisp dimming, gobo slot, shutters, and all the other typical profile features. Available in 19°, 26°, 36°, and 50° flavors. Chauvet Professional also showed the "hybrid" dimming version of their fresnel, the FD-165WW. Be sure to check that one out as well. Both units should be shipping in early 2015. Here is the Stage and Studio product page on the Chauvet Professional website.
James Thomas Truss & Tomcat
In case you had not heard, James Thomas is now under new ownership alongside the Tomcat brand. We had a chance to chat with the combined staffs on the show floor. Rest assured, all your traditional James Thomas truss items are still being made in earnest and are readily available! The biggest change to note is that all truss will now have a polished finish. The matte/mill finish typical of James Thomas products will no longer be offered.
Blizzard Lighting Switchblade Micro
Blizzard introduced a handful of new items at the show, but the intriguing item that caught our eye (which has been out for a little while) is the Switchblade Micro. In short, it looks like the moving light equivalent of a "birdie" or "inkie" fixture! It features a 15-watt RGBW 4-in-1 CREE LED that packs a punch for its size. Fast pan and tilt, 8° beam angle, quad beam effects, DMX in/thru, and more. A lot of fun for $299.99. Coming soon to the BMI webstore. Here is the product page on the Blizzard website.
That's it for now! More to come in the next post...
Have a great week!