Two cents! The first thing you'll notice is that most manufacturers are going after two markets, Professional and DJ/Club. Some websites like Chauvet (
http://www.chauvetlighting.com/) will ask you right up front to click on one or the other while others like Elation (
http://www.elationlighting.com/Default.aspx) will let you find the American DJ site (
http://www.americandj.com/) on your own.
Martin has recently entered the fray with their
Rush (
http://www.martin.com/frontpage/frontpage.asp?empty=0) series (made in China for
Martin)
The two distinctions? Professional is more robust, takes more abuse (touring), is flicker free (for video), less apt to fail and cost more while the DJ side is pretty much the opposite or at least not designed to the same standards. Why? Professionals want the exact piece of equipment for their need (see also the claw
http://livedesignonline.com/u2360tour/claw-vitals) Where as DJ's want the latest and greatest wow factor for their gig.
Next you've got philosophical differences on what each manufacturer wants to accomplish. Some use Red Green Blue color mixing while others use Cyan Magenta Yellow.
CMY produces the most beautiful colors by far (IMHO) but you can't get red, only burnt orange unless you
throw in the red filter. Others use the deepest red, green, blue and white
LED's for their units while others, like
ETC Sealdor (
http://www.etcconnect.com/products.family.aspx?ID=30010), uses different shades of each color for more vivid mixing, BUT they sacrifice
power. That is to say if you want a specific red you may only find 2 or 3 LEDs coming on.
It spirals onward from here. Your best bet would be to contact each company, tell them what you are doing and go from there.