Bulbs bulbs bulbs
- Thread starterCSCTech
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I'm assuming this is the spec sheet you were reading Leviton #FR2TH-50B 8" Theatre Fresnel with bare leads.pdf? Note other documents reference Studio or TV fixtures even though the description says "Theatre." "Medium" is a misprint, as a BVW lamp has a mogul prefocus base base, intended for a mogul prefocus socket.
The BVW lamp that Leviton recommends is the brightest available, so of course they'd want to recommend that one. Use the BVT instead. It's significantly less expensive, longer life, half the wattage and half the output. Your sockets and gel will last longer, and it's unlikely you need the extra intensity, as I said above, unless your throws are very long.
The BVW lamp that Leviton recommends is the brightest available, so of course they'd want to recommend that one. Use the BVT instead. It's significantly less expensive, longer life, half the wattage and half the output. Your sockets and gel will last longer, and it's unlikely you need the extra intensity, as I said above, unless your throws are very long.
DELO72
Well-Known Member
I'm a big fan of standardizing on 3200K color temperature. This way your ERS, Fresnels, and other fixtures will all color-balance and a sheet of gel in one will look the same in another. For this reason I would suggest the GLC over the GLA. It's brighter, whiter, and at 300 avg. life hours it will last the same as the FELs it is replacing. Also- 300 hrs. avg. life is the rating if the lamp is burned at full all the time. If you dim the lamp, the life will go up exponentially. Which is why even for small theatres I always go for the highest output lamp over the long life one. If it was Vegas or Disney where the lamps are running at <X> intensity 12-24 hours a day, 7 days a week, then definitely I would choose the long-life lamp.
For this same reason I like the BTH over the BTL and BTN. A certain former Sales Manager for Selecon once told me that the BTH had almost the same perceived output as the BTN in their RAMA fresnels. The higher color temperature makes it appear whiter and brighter even though the actual lumens are less-- but then, with light perception is everything. Lumens mean nothing except to a light meter. And here's the other reason to always choose a BTH over a BTL-- if you want the life and lower output of the BTL, you just dim the BTH lamp to 90% and presto! you have a lower lumen, lower wattage, lower color temp, 700+ hour lamp! But you can't raise the output of the BTL beyond 100% to make it a BTH...
It's better to start with all lamps having the same relative color temperature (as high in the 3200-3250 range as possible), and then if you are really concerned with life, set the profile on your dimmers (via the control board or the rack) to a max of 97% or so. This way you are underpowering all the lamps equally, which will increase their life by a lot--equally, as well as keep them all color balanced to one another.
For this same reason I like the BTH over the BTL and BTN. A certain former Sales Manager for Selecon once told me that the BTH had almost the same perceived output as the BTN in their RAMA fresnels. The higher color temperature makes it appear whiter and brighter even though the actual lumens are less-- but then, with light perception is everything. Lumens mean nothing except to a light meter. And here's the other reason to always choose a BTH over a BTL-- if you want the life and lower output of the BTL, you just dim the BTH lamp to 90% and presto! you have a lower lumen, lower wattage, lower color temp, 700+ hour lamp! But you can't raise the output of the BTL beyond 100% to make it a BTH...
It's better to start with all lamps having the same relative color temperature (as high in the 3200-3250 range as possible), and then if you are really concerned with life, set the profile on your dimmers (via the control board or the rack) to a max of 97% or so. This way you are underpowering all the lamps equally, which will increase their life by a lot--equally, as well as keep them all color balanced to one another.
