Events

Barco

Details: 14 March 2016

>Taking a projector's appearance away from a black square box with a lens is a difficult task, but the curves of Barco's new RLM G5 Performer make it surprisingly pleasing to the eye. Featuring sealed optics, 4000 ANSI lumens output, digital zoom and a maximum resolution of 1600x1200, a range of lenses is available. The SLite large format outdoor LED screen system was displayed, available in visual resolutions of 9.3mm and 14mm. Barco was also demonstrating its Events Controller system, designed to integrate lighting, projection, LED screens, smoke machines and mechanics under one control system.

Penn/Elcom

Details: 14 March 2016

>At the start of July, Penn Fabrication renamed to Penn/Elcom having acquired Elcom, its biggest competitor in the USA. New products on show this year included Cablesafe, which comes in 700mm sections and has slots for four cables up to 50mm in diameter. Also on show was the 'N' case system and 19" rack-mountable products.

Martin Professional

Details: 14 March 2016

>Martin Professional launched the first in a new range of lighting fixtures for the DJ market. Described by the company's Larry Beck as "a return to our roots," the Mania range is intended to be low-cost yet eye-catching and will be manufactured in Martin's new Chinese facility. First in the series, the EF-1, is a dynamic flower effect featuring six coloured patterns which can either be triggered by sound or operate automatically. The range will ultimately include effect lights, colour changers, strobes, deco effects, scanners and smoke machines. Also for the club market was Atomic Colors, an add-on to the Atomic 3000 strobe which features a gel string of 10 colours, plus the Xciter and Fingers light jockey control surfaces. For live music, Martin Pro's MAC 550 profile was being debuted, along with the new MAC 250 Entour and Krypton versions. The Maxxyz lighting console was als

Wembley Loudspeaker

Details: 14 March 2016

>Wembley Loudspeaker was again in evidence at PLASA, and took a surprise order which was a fine testimonial to the audio quality of the company's speakers. Eight of its B-Line 28-20 sub bass cabinets have been sold to a new reggae club opening in Kingston, Jamaica. The boxes are being shipped this month ready for the club's opening. Apparently, the club owners first heard Wembley's B-Line 28-20 cabinets at this summer's Notting Hill Carnival in London. They subsequently visited the PLASA show where they agreed the order with Wembley MD Paul MacCallum. His only regret is that they're so easy to use, he won't need to fly over and install them personally!

Gala Theatrical Equipment

Details: 14 March 2016

>At PLASA to meet with customers and discuss its practical design solutions was Gala Theatrical Equipment, worldwide specialist in modular lift systems for a wide range of venues and applications. The company has now notched up more than 500 successful installations worldwide.

Zero 88

Details: 14 March 2016

>An abundance of new products was launched by Zero 88, including a new member for the Spice family of dimmers - a professional touring 'Spice Rack'. There are four models available, 24- and 48-way, each with Socapex or Harting output options. Popular with educational users is the Phantom Frog, a PC-based emulation programme that allows users to edit shows, record patches and preview cues from a PC. The good news is that it's free.

Behringer

Details: 14 March 2016

>Behringer unveiled 13 new products. These included three new 31-band equalizers - the Ultragraph digital DEQ1024, Ultragraph pro FBQ6200 and Ultragraph pro FBQ3102 - and a 15-band stereo-graphic equalizer, the Ultragraph pro FBQ1502. For DJs, there was the VMX1000 - a 7-channel, 19" DJ mixer and a new desktop DJ effects machine - the Tweakalizer. On the speaker side, the company launched the MS16 - a new compact stereo speaker system, and also extended its line of professional reference studio monitors with the launch of three new active and passive models - the Truth B2030A, Truth B2030P, and Truth B2031P.

Denon

Details: 14 March 2016

>The Denon stand featured the DNS-3000, a new, cut-down version of its DNS-5000 table top CD player. A motor-driven 'active platter' provides the turntable 'feel' for scratching and cueing CDs. The D4000 rackmount CD player was also enjoying its first show outing.

Robert Juliat

Details: 14 March 2016

>New from Robert Juliat (to be found on the White Light stand) is the Manon 1.2kW MSR followspot. It offers 12.5-22° zoom, cold restrike, 100% closing iris and 100% closing mechanical dimmer. Also new was the Lolita mini-profile -aimed at the theatrical and puppet theatre markets and offering 100W tungsten lamp, full opticals, four shutters and available in either a black or white casing. Francois Juliat reported the company was having a great show, meeting very interested customers.

Crest

Details: 14 March 2016

>Crest showed its new budget console, the HP Eight - a well-featured 32-channel desk with 10 auxes and 8 groups. For the DJ market come two new mixers - the CP6210 and CP6220 - both six input mixers with all rotary controls. The latter model includes three-band EQ, level meters and cross-fader.

Batmink

Details: 14 March 2016

>Attracting attention on the Batmink stand was the impressive, high output Bubble Machine, which was filling the area around the stand with the kind of bubbles childhood dreams are made of. Featuring booster fans and remote timers, the machine is new and exclusive to Batmink. Also new, and available from December, are Spectrabank LED strips, which have a total of 912 ultra-high brightness LEDs providing high light output with minimal heat, arranged in 12 individually-controlled clusters.

LiteStructures

Details: 14 March 2016

>ChromaDeck is based on the Pulsar LED Chroma Panel but ruggedized and repackaged to fit into LiteStructures' existing staging system. The polycarbonate top, though not completely scratch-proof, is both strong and light, making this ideal for illuminated dance platforms. LiteStructures also took the opportunity at PLASA to reveal its updated company logo and launch a new website.

XTBA

Details: 14 March 2016

>XTBA seems to have the solution to most of the world's DMX requirements. At PLASA, further new products were added to the company's growing portfolio. Amongst these was the new Smart Splitter View - a one in, five out (with loop through) data splitter. It is available in single isolation version, as in the Smart Splitter, as a fully isolated version, as in the Smart Splitter 5i, or as a case version for hanging in the rig. In addition to being the splitter the Smart Splitter View can show (via an easy to read display) the received channel levels and data parameters allowing for easy fault finding and checking of data. In receive mode the viewed channels can be scrolled left and right and displayed in decimal or percent.

Strand

Details: 14 March 2016

>A little 128Mb USB memory stick, the USB Key is all it takes to enable your laptop (Mac/PC or Linux platform) to access displays and control of Strand Lighting's 300 or 500 series consoles (connect via wired or wireless Ethernet). The Designer Remote software only occupies approximately 30% of the stick's capacity, leaving space for offline editing and saving. Also from Strand, the LD24 is a greatly simplified variant of the successful LD90 install panel dimmers. Still a high quality, digital 24-channel 2.5kW dimmer, the LD24 hits a much lower price bracket by removing the more sophisticated architectural and analogue controls. Strand also chose PLASA to launch V2.6.10 - the latest software for Strand consoles featuring a 'host of enhancements'.

Arbiter Pro Audio // JBL Professional

Details: 14 March 2016

>Despite the issues surrounding the future of Arbiter Pro Audio at the show, it still pulled together an impressive display of new products. Enjoying its UK launch - and winning the PLASA Award for Design Excellence in the Sound category - was AKG's WMS4000 UHF radio microphone system, offering software control and 1200 frequencies in each of six bands. Also showing was a modular upgrade of the Tri-Power and Emotion series microphones, allowing wired mics to be easily turned into wireless versions.

New from JBL Professional was the Precision Directivity PD5212/95 PA cabinet, plus the Dance5, Dance3 and CBT4 dance market loudspeakers, while from dbx came the launch of the AFX224 feedback suppressor and Driverack 260 loudspeaker controller.

Antari UK

Details: 14 March 2016

>Antari UK launched the X Series of smoke machines; the X-150 is a neat little 1000W unit, the X-525 slightly more powerful at 1500W, and the X-530 topping the range at 3kW. All three are aimed at the pro user; the fluid tank is dimly lit by a blue LED, allowing monitoring of fluid level by eye across a large stage (should you miss it, the pump automatically cuts out at critical levels). Completing the range is the X-310 - a Fazer with in-built fans (vari-speed) and the potential to produce an instant burst.

British Harlequin

Details: 14 March 2016

>Installations for a variety of applications, including schools, colleges, theatres and cruise liners have been keeping the British Harlequin team busy. The company has just started to install floors in Europe, with recent commissions from Finnish National Opera in Helsinki and Theater Basel and Stadttheater Bern in Switzerland. Monica Arnott said they were currently installing two-three floors a week, making 2003 an extremely busy year.

PLASA 2003 Review - Introduction

Details: 14 March 2016

A renewed sense of optimism was evident around the halls of Earls Court during the 2003 PLASA Show. Despite world events earlier this year, and the knock-on effect these inevitably had on business worldwide, this year's Show seemed to give the industry a renewed sense of its own potential and forward momentum. The Lighting&Sound International-sponsored New Technology Gallery (designed by DWP with fixtures and fittings supplied by Stage Electrics), provided a strong focus with a record number of Product Award nominations - 79 in all - proving that the industry remains a fertile ground for new ideas and invention.

The central networking bar with its surround view and high resolution LED screen from CT Screenco, provided an ideal place to meet colleagues and friends, or plan the ensuing expedition around the hall. This year's more open-plan layout also had the effect of making the show fl

Hardware Xenon

Details: 14 March 2016

>Looking intimidatingly like a piece of naval hardware, the massive Hardware Xenon 7000W xenon followspot/image scanner was launched at PLASA. As a followspot it features a shutter, iris and six-colour boomerang, while the image scanner features two rotating gobo wheels and seven-position colour wheel. A stroboscopic shutter and removable servo-controlled mirror complete the spec, with all features DMX compatible.

The company also launched a weatherproof stainless steel enclosure for its 7000W OLS large format projectors. Featuring dust-filtering ventilation, it also provides some measure of security against theft. Riding above the stand was the spherical Projection Balloon: these are available up to 5m in diameter and projection is from a 4000W OLS unit, which can hold up to 100 images.

CKI & Altman announce agreement at PLASA

Details: 14 March 2016

USA - During this week's PLASA Show, US-based lighting manufacturers Color Kinetics Inc and Altman Lighting Inc announced an agreement whereby Altman will license Color Kinetics' patented Chromacore technology and expertise and integrate Color Kinetics components for a unique line of intelligent LED-based systems for the theatrical, entertainment, and themed architectural lighting markets. The Chromacore-powered systems are slated for availability in November 2003.

Robert Altman, CEO, Altman Lighting told us: "When it comes to intelligent LED illumination, we recognize the distinct advantages of aligning with Color Kinetics, whose dominant intellectual property, technology, and expertise are unmatched in the field. We're pleased to announce this agreement in support of Altman's commitment to deliver high-quality, state-of-the-art products that meet the rigorous demands of t

G-LEC

Details: 14 March 2016

>With its main business in television, G-LEC has been kept busy either renting its LED curtain system or designing and selling systems to meet project specifications. Product-wise, the company has upgraded the software for its systems to enable more flexibility for the user.

Community

Details: 14 March 2016

>A discretely-styled wedge, the M12 monitor from Community features a nifty cable management system, with input connector mounted to an indent on the underside, making this passive two-way 300W (continuous) system very attractive for use in TV studios. Also from Community, the Cloud12-66 is a high power ceiling speaker based upon a 12" with 1" coaxial driver, capable of handling 200W continuous. A dual transformer package (70.7V and 100V) and 60° x 60° control pattern makes this a useful solution for installers confronting high ceiling environments.

Light Engineering Multiform

Details: 14 March 2016

>It was difficult to miss the Light Engineering Multiform stand with its impressive 7m long sign rigged above it. The seamless, polycarbonate sign was backlit with colour changers and Sparkle fibre optics and by the time you read this will be mounted back in its permanent home above the company's premises. On show was the Gemini 12x48, a two-preset DMX memory lighting desk aimed at small theatres. Also new was the DMX424, low cost, mains powered decoder.

A.C. Lighting

Details: 14 March 2016

>There was genuine excitement on and around the A.C. Lighting stand, where the new Vista console from Australian manufacturer, Jands, was being demonstrated. With a new design utilizing the latest user interfaces, the Vista promises a leap forward in speed and ease of lighting desk operation. Doing away with touch screens, keypads and number-crunching, the Vista uses a pen and a large colour screen, and incorporates a timeline that shows what's happening in your design in relation to time - when lights come on, when they change colour and so on. You can step in at any point to edit, and all variables (colours, focus, gobos etc) are there on the one screen.

The Vista also boasts a generic fixture model that makes changing fixtures easy. When a change is made, the Vista compares the two lights and adapts automatically - even if the replacement has a different feature set. For the operat

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