Automated Fixtures - Rumor Mill Update: Vari-Lite's LED Fixture

[isquint]

I wanted to share some more information about the new Vari-Lite LED fixture, the VLX. Here is the COMPLETE article...

Just a few weeks ago, we reported a rumor that Vari-lite is in the process of developing an LED moving head. Many of the top lighting designers and dealers were able to view the fixture in a private room at LDI this past year in Las Vegas, at half power (because of limitations of the off the shelf power supplies) and reports were that they were all blown away. Today we have learned more details of the mysterious LED fixture called VLX. The VLX is rumored to be about the same body shape and size of the current VL500 fixture with close to the same weight, 43 lbs. (19.5kg). The VLX is heard to be as bright if not brighter then the VL2500 wash unit with an output of about 13,000 lumens. The fixture does not look like an LED fixture or perform like one, it works and looks, even from the front, like a standard fixture except the colors really pop and are completely homogenized when mixed.

While we were not able to determine what type of LEDs the VLX uses, it does use RGB (Red, Blue, Green) plus White LED’s. An amber LED may be added in at a later time, but as many people in the industry know, amber LEDs are not quite as bright yet. What is truly amazing about these LEDs is that they are developed exclusively for Vari-Lite and does not use Color Kinetics or Philips brand LEDs. The VLX will also utilize a 3:1 zoom lens (LED zoom?) without the use of any sort of frost diffusion.

While information is scarce about the VLX right now, we can guesstimate that the fixture will be a little more than the price of a VL2500 Wash. Considering the cost of a moving light that still uses Metal Halide lamps and the VLX uses LED’s, the fixture housing may die long before the LEDs do. We haven’t heard anything about a release date, but chances are something will hit the market before the 2nd quarter of 2009. We also hear that the plan is to release an entire range of fixtures using this technology with par cans, cyc lights and exterior wash fixtures supposedly in the works.

If you like to see my pretty photochop of the VLX, visit iSquint.net

[derekleffew]

Originally Posted by isquint

...If you like to see my pretty photochop of the VLX, visit iSquint.net

Please note, the image in this post is a Photochop and NOT the actual image of the VLX.

Isquint | Entertainment Lighting Review


The front of the fixture privately shown at LDI, October 2008, looked significantly different than the "photochop." Just sayin'.



*

[isquint]

Originally Posted by derekleffew

Isquint | Entertainment Lighting Review


The front of the fixture privately shown at LDI, October 2008, looked significantly different than the "photochop." Just sayin'.



*

Yeah, I totally made that one up. Looks NOTHING like the real one!

[Pie4Weebl]

Originally Posted by isquint

Yeah, I totally made that one up. Looks NOTHING like the real one!

in fact in your description of the light you say the color is homogenized, which it is clearly not in your "chop"

[isquint]

The Rumors are true! We spotted an poster ad of the new VLX fixture in the wild! We have heard it might be out as soon as the fall.

[ship]

Ah heck, had moving light LED fixtures since Sting 2005 tour.
Granted they were just Mac 250 fixtures with a LED upgrade.
On the other hand, saw a Zap Technologies LED Big Light wash light today. No comment.

Will be seeing the new Osram Dot-It® Backstage Blue™ in the morning. Could be interesting though as I remember it the red spectrum is one more conducive to night vision, thus given it’s a blue LED, it probably won’t have much real full spectrum (even in comparison to a incandescent blue lamp in providing it) useful light given off in the dark short of being non-dimmable blue/white light. Thus doubts about it, but I’m open for a new thing given hundreds spent per year on clip lights that get dinged up and fall apart. This plus a shelf of cardboard boxes housing clip light lamps that go out in foamed out A-19 lamp eight lamp storage packs - four at 40w ceramic coated blue, four at 50w rough service frosted white. Works well in sending out the clip light lamps without them breaking but all it takes is one rain storm for the cardboard to become mush and or the lamps don’t always come back or get re-packaged for travel. Various ways of mounting the oval hocky puck like Osram LED fixture (in finally being able to open up the press release attachment,) swivels and it’s battery operated, could be interesting as touted for road cases or other uses. TBA when the prototype gets viewed on usefulness. Though I do have a clip light design or two that are very rugged and easy to mount I would in the end rather be using, no time to build them given they have been on the back burner for at least five to seven years now. On the other hand it was always fun to get the new Gringer rep. in them totally wanting to get more business and me during the yearly meeting with the new rep, task them with pricing out the parts for the clip light - raw parts, not finished fixtures. Funny after years of every year getting a new and more attractive rep. (stopped doing both new reps. and attactive ones at some point), never once got the pricing on the parts back in spite of wanting work and giving them a project - not as jucy as providing my lamps "we stock stage and studio lamps now", but still cash to be gotten.


Was recently looking at some LED strip lights Bulbrite came out with for replacing the constantly going bad ETC Sensor Rack work lights. Unfortunately they quickly became cost prohivitive by way of number of strips needed and size of transformer and it's own cost. Still that's another thing that would be good to improve and even go LED given how commonly such work lights in the Sensor racks go bad. Even tried at one point going industrial grade 130v rope light into the work light channels but even they went bad. Just don't make a good replacement work light for Sensor racks at this point which is cost effective to use. Just couldn't see spending like $450.00 per rack in going LED for them, this given the amount of racks needing to upgrade and the Bulbrite option being good.

Also saw a tour in prep last week with I believe Elation LED moving heads on it. Kind of looks like a flat plate with a moving light mechanism on it. Decent beam of light and liked the ability to switch from beam of light to prop Peace Symbol from the truss on them. Interesting idea in the fixture having dual purpose both beam of light and scenery I thought. This all granted I don't much deal with moving lights other than the lamps for them or LED's other than the wiring for them. First project next week is to wire up some kind of new fangled Color Kinetics LED bar fixtures and power supplies. Would much rather continue on the audience blinder, incandescent warning light or pantograph wiring projects I'm currently working on given its straight forward wiring x=y in a power equals light without the voodoo majik of data.

[gafftaper]

This the Elation you saw Ship?

That's the Elation Impression XL
I was pretty impressed with it at LDI. It's got some serious output.

[derekleffew]

Originally Posted by ship

...Decent beam of light and liked the ability to switch from beam of light to prop Peace Symbol from the truss on them. Interesting idea in the fixture having dual purpose both beam of light and scenery I thought. ...

Elation Impressions don't do this:

[ship]

Think so, on a truss like 30' in the air. Was interesting to me, given it's totally outside my field. Nice though as as general concept Elation might be growing up to proper touring fixture status though. Mention lately LED ain't real light, but than what's seen on tour ain't real either so perhaps it works. While I would love more extra storage space by way of less lamps, as opposed to every year another new lamp to attempt to store, LED's call me old fashioned, I don't see replacing the full spectrum quartz or MSR lamp in the near future. This though there was one highly toughted LED only tour that went out a few years ago without lamps as it were - they still had a followspot. Have a tour leaving in the morning that's also only LED lit so far as not needing spare lamps, we will see once out of rehearsals what lamps will be needed. This and or given it's a LED how successful in giving other than in some sense of 1970's fluorescent "green light" concept to the look one establishes in such fake light that's not full spectrum and thus causes problems with flattening and pale images lit.

A few years from now once the competition of inetnsity is sufficiant, I expect CRI will become the next great battle of LED lamps. Until than, useful but not full lighting in my opinion. Fake lighting much similar to what we saw in school classrooms in the 1970's.

[gafftaper]

Originally Posted by derekleffew

Elation Impressions don't do this:

So do you think Ship was actually looking at a High End Showpix? I was kind of wondering that too. Either way the Elation Impression really had an amazing output.



Hey Keith have you recovered from three days of looking at the High End booth yet?