A key feature of the LED-powered LightStar is that it produces an output comparable to, or greater than, a fibre optic illuminator using a 150-watt metal halide light source. In a white colour mix, the LightStar is equivalent to the 150-watt metal halide powered illuminators. By using an LED light engine there is no transmission loss with a colour filter, so in deep, saturated colors, the LightStar has a greater output that is equivalent to 250-watt illuminators.
"By using LEDs as the light source, we have significantly decreased the power draw for the illuminator since we now only need 2-amps to power the unit," says Giovanni Ciranni, manager with Main Light. "The LED source also reduces the heat produced which means we have a low-noise cooling fan that is virtually silent. We have also reduced the weight to five pounds versus some illuminators that came in around 40 pounds. This will significantly cut the shipping costs of fiber optic systems."
Also of note, is that because color management is done electronically, the LightStar illuminator eliminates the need for a traditional colour wheel so is not limited to three or four colours on the wheel, rotating at a fixed speed. "With LightStar you get a really wide selection of colours produced via the RGBW LEDs, plus you can get instant colour changes as well as smooth fades," says Ciranni. "The unit also has one DMX channel that brings up a pre-mixed cool white color so you don't have to take the time to mix to a white for a strong star effect."
The LightStar illuminator has full DMX capability for remote control; up to 30 units can be daisy chained via DMX control using five-pin XLR or Ethernet RJ-45 in-and-out connectors. Built-in DMX-based master-slave functionality allows one unit to control and synchronize the behaviour of the other units, such as dimming and twinkling. LightStar can also operate in standalone mode as well as be controlled locally at the illuminator.
(Jim Evans)
