Handheld spectrometer application for theater lighting

What is the most impressive theater performance you had ever seen? Do you still remember the dialogue and the actor performed on the stage that touched your heart? The theater performances are full of dramatic acting and lighting effects. Audience is not just watching the arts of performing, which also includes the complex arts through the light effect that creates a scene of contrast, vigorous, beautiful … and so on. According to Wikipedia’s information, today we heard the theater art, mainly refers to the drama or theater these two words. Theatre was originally from theatron, it was the ladder area for audience from ancient Greek theater, meaning “a place to watch”, and later became the meaning of the entire performance venue. Therefore, this article will explore the theater art which serving human eye but facing what kind challenges in the field of lighting design and how UPRtek handheld spectrometer extend the application to theater lighting.

 

 

Problems with Traditional Color Changing Gel

In the past, the light color changes for theater performance is using tungsten halogen lamps with color changing gel (device) to change the light color. However, the power consumption of halogen lamp is high and it produced high temperature leads to a problem on color changing gel. The heat caused the gel became curly and after using multiple times the color became fade. The color gel cannot be used for a long time is always a troublesome for professional lighting designers. The color gel was made from plastic and need to be changed regularly, also led to environmental issues.

 

Matured LED Light Source Brings New Dimming Technology

Now, LED light source is getting mature, professional lighting designers have also begun to use a wide range of LED lights because the characteristics of energy saving and low temperature. These advantages had come out a new direction of thinking on controlling the color change for theater lighting. In recent years, the lighting designers who tried to use high-tech LED lights, found the following problems, such as can LED lights produce the same light color as traditional lights? Is it convenience and if it required learning new dimming methods? If the technology of mixing colors for LED lights an open resource, is that able to assist professional lighting users? If it is cost effective, is that possible to replace the light color change system? These questions might be the reasons that the usage of LED lights is not yet widespread to the entire professional theater lighting market.

 

New Technology Extends the Common Language of Lighting Technicians – Easy to Use

In response to the above problems, we selected the most frequently discussed topic in the generation of changing LED light source – Can LED lights simulate the same light color as traditional lights? In the past, theater lighting designers were used to using tungsten halogen Lamps of warm white. On the other hands, LED is able to make any light color. As the lighting designers who used to change the light color with the gel and the base warm white was from tungsten halogen lamps. Therefore, LED change color method adapts the rule of change color gel directly will be able to reduce lots troubles to control LED for colors. Have a look of the above picture; the color gel code is the language of communication between lighting designers, you may see the left of two similar two blue colors (#715, #716), how are you going to distinguish it? I believe you may choose the right color when it has code with it.

 

Spectral Technology Used in Theater Lighting Control

When color adjustable LED apply in theater lighting field, it is no longer to use the color change gel. Lighting designers will not need to prepare the color gels and no more environments threaten. In order to allow users easily get started, LED lights are using x, y color coordinate to make sure LED lights produce the same light color as traditional lights. Then, reformat the LED light by the illumiance (Y) proportion from each monochrome LED light through spectrum technology. At last, adjust the LED light color to the nearest color gel effect by using the DAC code from DMX (Dimmer). Now lighting designers may mix and reformat many kinds of the LED easily and restore the same light color as the traditional lights. The new LED dimming technology has replaced the traditional tungsten halogen light completely, and rid of the annoying color gels. It is a revolutionary change for theater lighting.

 

UPRtek uSpectrum Development Kits Assist Users in Developing own Dimming Control System

An LED lighting expert in theater lighting design tells us that the price for most of the theater lights dimming control system are high, and the dimming system can only be used with the same brand of lighting, the closed system cannot customize customer’s needs. Therefore, his team used UPRtek handheld spectrometer to view the spectrum and color coordinates for LED dimming design, and through the self-development Library of UPRtek uSpectrum PC software wrote a lighting control system application program (Color Navigator). Thus helped many LED manufacturers to develop their own dimming control system. As a LED manufacturer, are you still waiting and not sure if you should enter to theater lighting dimming markets due to the bottleneck of dimming technology? UPRtek handheld spectrometer is your best tool to help you enter to your target market – theater lighting!