Are LED pars bright enough to actually be usefull?

[soundlight]

Dr. DMX (good ol' doug fleenor) should make a box that does this. It would basically up the refresh rate to the maximum allowed by DMX on all channels by holding the last value when there wasn't a signal. It would be a good investment for some of the midrange boards that might do this with LED's.

 

[proaudio4]

Thank you to all who just posted!

It seems odd I'm the only one complaining about this?
There are quite a few Wiedamark PAR 64 users.
Also, the Chauvet ColorBar panels do the same thing.

It appears to be the Enttec DMX USB PRO combo with these LED lights.
I have no issues with my regular MSD bulb lights.

Since I have not worked with the DMX protocol and programming, I'm wondering if some of it is the message sent from the user DMX software program to establish frame rate.

I believe once you send this message, the frame rate stays constant until the next update. It appears the DMX USB PRO is working correcty.
You can set your light to a scene and stop the software and the internal buffer in the DMX USB PRO maintains the condition.

 

[proaudio4]

Yes Soundlight.

So my guess would be that high end LED units do not display this issue with my Enttec widget?

So this issue seems like a design flaw with PWM duty cyle for LEDs in conjunction with DMX frame rate used. Is this a correct assumption?

Man, I wish I had some different LED lights to try.

 

[proaudio4]

Well,
Enttec sent me a firmware change to accomadate the LED flicker problem.

The good news is, the firmware change I uploaded for the Enttec DMX USB PRO works as a "band-aid" for the flicker problem with these "cheaper" LED units. He gave me a "special" firmware update to slow down the DMX by increasing the interslot time. By default the USB PRO sends DMX at the maximum speed.

I have not really noticed a performance hit.

Enntec mentioned "they get a number of similar problems on a regular basis and up to now it has always been non compliant DMX512 lights ...
Each non compliant light reacts in it's own strange way."

I'm real happy to see these lights dim without driving me freaking nuts flickering!
Too bad it's a band-aid approach, but I can live with that.

I'd like to get my hands on some of the expensive LED pars and panels to see if they have this issue.
I heard they do not.

 

[DarSax]

Burning question: Why have they not made fixtures with built-in dimmers yet? The closest you can get is a back-pak, but I'd think a PAR can with individual built in dimmmer would find quite a market on the portable, small DJ market?

(semhijack?)

 

[soundlight]

It makes alot more sense to have seperate dimmers for parcans because of the heat at the back of a PARcan. Also, putting dimmers in groups of four or eight or twelve is much more economical for the end user, because they can share a chassis, power inputs, main fuse, etc.

 

[lighttechie5948]

Also you have to keep in mind the colors you want to use. The L.E.D.s are great but using a combination of RGB you can only get a very, very "crudy" amber/yellow.

It would be great (if there isn't one already now) if a company would make a L.E.D. par that did RGYB. If there is please respond.

 

[soundlight]

Even better - Selador makes 7 color mixing LED fixtures. You can make just about any color temperature white that you want, and have a huge palette or rich colors to use. The downside, of course, is that they are very, very expensive. But, if you consider the trade-off in electrical consumption, lamp replacements, and heat output, they're really worth it.

This picture says it all about Selador's vast improvements to the RGB system. Look at how much more of the spectrum it covers because of the added 4 colors!

 

[lighttechie5948]

wow!!!!!!!!

 

[soundlight]

wow!!!!!!!!

That's the general first-time reaction to Selador. Now if the color spectrum possible has put you in to shock because you have suddenly realized what this means for LED technology, we may need to send someone over to help you. Be careful, Seladors have a very high initial WOW factor, higher than some people are capable of containing. Repeated exposure to this new technology allows you to become less likely of going in to shock upon seeing the color spectrum. Extensive exposure to the Selador Color Chart may lead some peoples' computers to shut down because of extensive drooling over the keyboard, while others may try to buy one online, only to realize later, when their credit card statement comes, that buying a Selador is not that great of a thing to do when you were trying to just hold out until the next rent was due.

 

[BobMirage]

Not for this use. You have to consider the amount of space that needs to be lit and to what intensity. Decent LED's have a very tight beam. The few that don't, won't be bright enough.
You're not limited to LEDs if you have a few seperate wall outlets.
Just don't use old Q1000's. The 575's are about as bright and ~1/2 the power.
Almost all wall outlets are 20 amps. Take a better look at your available power. Can you run power from another room, back of house or tie-in to the main power?
All of this can be sorted-out by hiring someone through your light rental shop or asking the venue if they know someone with lights. It's well worth it.
[email protected]

 

[JSFox]

Just a note that throughout much of the country most duplex recepts are 15a, not 20a. On this page (http://www.nooutage.com/nema_configurations.htm) you can see the configuration difference (5-15R vs 5-20R) that will allow you to tell. Also, just because you see 5 duplex recepts doesn't mean you have 5 circuits as you may have multiple recepts sharing circuits.

Nothing like being assured that some place has 7 20a circuits only to arrive and find out that they have 7 15a recepts, but only 2 circuits (EG, for a total of 30a).