Photo ©David French. Used with permission.. AND THE ANSWER IS… IT CAN BE DONE! HOW MUCH MONEY YA GOT ? FROM WHICH BUDGET?

AN ALL LED THEATRE, MYTH OR REALTY?

Photo ©David French. Used with permission.

AND THE ANSWER IS…

IT CAN BE DONE!

HOW MUCH MONEY YA GOT?

FROM WHICH BUDGET?

THE PROGRESS OF LED TECHNOLOGY HAS MADE THIS A VALID QUESTION

•IMPROVED LIGHT OUTPUT

•RGBAW AND MORE

•HOMOGENIZED BEAM

•REDUCED MATERIAL COST

•FOCUS ON LUMINAIRE DESIGN

•FINDING THE HOLY GRAIL

WHY LED IN THEATRE?

REDUCING POWER DENSITY IS NOT THE DRIVING FORCE AS IN ARCHITECTURAL LIGHTING; DUTY CYCLE IS GENERALLY NOT THERE - STAGE LIGHTING IS NORMALLY EXEMPTED BY ENERGY CODES

OPERATIONAL ADVANTAGES OF LED ARE THE DRIVING FORCE FOR ADOPTION IN ENTERTAINMENT LIGHTING AS MUCH AS PAYBACK ISSUES, MAYBE MORE SO

OPERATIONAL ADVANTAGESNo re-lamping means greater reliability, key

halogen lamps in a theatre are still 300 hours life!!No expendable color media hassle, gels burn outUnlimited color selection, cue by cueFewer lighting sources requiredCan use home made gobosCooler, therefore safer fixturesMuch more flexibility from a fixed repertory light

plot than a similar plot using conventional instruments

Fixture by fixture control, regardless of circuiting

The major traditional theatrical lighting instrument types now have

LED counterparts

WASH LUMINAIRESUSED FOR COLOR WASHES

TRADITIONALLY PARS OR FRESNELS

ONE OF THE FIRST TYPES TO HAVE A VIABLE LED EQUAL

RGB IS ACCEPTABLE HERE

Border Lights STILL USED FOR COLOR TONING AND

SOMETIMES FOR LIGHTING BACK DROPS

TRADITIONAL SOURCES ARE HUGE WATTAGE HOGS

TRADITIONAL FIXTURES HAVE “PAR-LIKE” DISTRIBUTION - EASY FOR LED

SATURATED COLORS PREFERRED - EASY FOR LED

CYC LIGHTS

TRADITIONAL EVOLUTION FROM BORDER LIGHTS, THINK WALL WASH FIXTURE, ASYMETRICAL REFLECTOR

TRADITIONAL SOURCES ARE HUGE WATTAGE HOGS AND REQUIRE MANY CIRCUITS

SATURATED COLORS PREFERRED - EASY FOR LED

AUTOMATED LIGHTINGMANY TYPES EXIST, BUT THE WASH

LUMINAIRES NOW HAVE VIABLE LED EQUALS

TRADITIONAL SOURCES ARE HID - VERY HIGH LAMP COSTS, MAINTENANCE ISSUES

SATURATED COLORS PREFERRED - EASY FOR LED

“PROFILE” SPOTS (ERS)

THE HOLY GRAIL, JUST NOW COMING ON THE MARKET FROM MANY MANUFACTURERS

HARD EDGE SOURCE WITH INTERNAL FOCAL POINT, TRADITIONALLY ACHIEVED WITH ELLIPSOIDAL REFLECTOR

USED FOR FRONT LIGHTING, LONGER THROWS AND PATTERN PROJECTION THE WORK HORSE IN EVERY THEATRE

ACHIEVING THE REQUIRED BEAM CHARACTERISTICS HAS BEEN A CHALLENGE

USED TO LIGHT ACTING AREAS - PASTELS AND FLESH TONES ARE MORE IMPORTANT THAN SATURATED COLORS - THIS REQUIRES RGBA OR RGBAW

HOUSE LIGHTS

FULL RANGE DIMMING REQUIREMENTS HAVE DICTATED HALOGEN SOURCES

HOUSE LIGHTS ARE TYPICALLY VERY DIFFICULT TO SERVICE

HALOGEN SOURCES DRIVE THE NEED FOR DIMMER CABINETS THAT OTHER-WISE MIGHT NOT BE NECESSARY

THERE ARE NOW LED SOURCES AVAILABLE FOR HIGH CEILING APPLICATIONS THAT ALSO INCORPORATE FULL RANGE DMX DIMMING

0-10 VOLT OR ELV DIMMING MAY BE ACCEPTABLE IN CAFETORIUMS OR OTHER VENUES WHERE FULL DIMMING IS NOT AN EXPECTATION

SOME FIXTURES TAKE ADVANGE OF RGBW TECHNOLOGY TO ALLOW HOUSE LIGHT COLOR-MIXING

DMX CONTROL ALLOWS FLEXIBILITY IN CONTROL ZONES MUCH THE SAME WAY DALI AND ADDRESSABLE BALLASTS ALLOW IT IN ARCHITECTURAL LIGHTING

HOW DOES LED AFFECTSYSTEM DESIGN?

THIS IS NOT YOUR DADDY’S STAGE LIGHTING SYSTEM

WE ARE ON THE EDGE, OR MAYBE PAST, A SEISMIC SHIFT IN SYSTEM DESIGN

IS YOUR PROJECT A CANDIDATE TO MAKE THE LEAP?

TRADITIONAL SYSTEMSCENTRALIZED DIMMER RACK

FEEDING DISCREET CIRCUITSCIRCUITS ARE DISTRIBUTED

BASED ON THE NEED FOR CONTROL FLEXIBILITY AS MUCH AS LOAD REQUIREMENTS

QUANTITY OF CIRCUITS OFTEN DROVE FEEDERS TO LARGER SIZES OUT OF LINE WITH ACTUAL LOADS

WHAT IS DIFFERENT WITH LED?SMALLER FEEDSREDUCED NEED FOR

CONVENTIONAL DIMMINGNEED TO TURN POWER SUPPLIES

OFF - PHANTOM POWER ISSUESWHERE DIMMING IS REQUIRED IT

CAN BE ACCOMPLISHED USING DISTRIBUTED DIMMING DEVICES

NO NEED FOR K-RATED TRANSFORMERS

REDUCES LOAD ON AIR-CONDITIONING SYSTEMS

CONTROL IS KEYEACH FIXTURE AND ITS ATTRIBUTES

ARE CONTROLLED DISCREETLY VIA DIGITAL SIGNALS, TYPICALLY DMX

DMX DATA NEEDS TO BE DISTRIBUTED THROUGHOUT THE SPACE THROUGH THE USE OF SPLITTERS OR ETHERNET

EACH FIXTURE CAN TAKE MORE THAN A DOZEN CHANNELS OF CONTROL

CONTROL CONSOLES EXIST TO MAKE CONTROLLING ALL OF THIS EASIER

WHAT ABOUT THE DOLLARS?SEVERAL FACTORS TO CONSIDER

LUMINAIRE COST

REDUCTION OF DIMMING EQUIPMENT

INSTALLATION SAVINGS

OPERATIONAL COST SAVINGS

LUMINAIRE COST20 – 30 % FEWER LUMINAIRES REQUIREDWASH FIXTURES:

CONVENTIONAL: $100 - $300LED $500 - $1,500

BORDER LIGHTS (not specified much now)6’ R40 - $600.00LED - $2,500 - $4,500

Yes, really

CYC LIGHTSCONVENTIONAL 1000w FOUR CELL UNIT- $1,400LED - SINGLE CELL - $1,200 - $1,800

LUMINAIRE COSTAUTOMATED LIGHTING WASH FIXTURES

CONVENTIONAL $1,500 - $10,000LED $2,000 - $10,000

PROFILE CONVENTIONAL - 575 watt 19-50 degree -

$350LED $1,000 - $3,500

Yes, really

HOUSE LIGHTSCONVENTIONAL 500W T4 $300 - $500.00LED $1,000 – 1,500.00

REDUCTION OF DIMMING AND RELATED EQUIPMENT

•96 CIRCUIT DIMMER RACK - $20,000

•K-RATED TRANSFORMERS NOT REQUIRED

•ELIMINATION OF DIMMER ROOM

•DISTRIBUTED DIMMING AND RELAYS

•SMALLER FOOTPRINT

•LESS LOAD ON AIR-CONDITIONING EQUIPMENT

INSTALLATION SAVINGS•REDUCED LOADS MEAN SMALLER FEEDERS

•FEWER CIRCUITS REQUIRED

•CAN USE COMMON NEUTRALS IN SOME CASES

•NEED TO DISTRIBUTE DATA, BUT WE ARE ALREADY DOING THAT

•MAY REDUCE THE NEED FOR ACCESS TO EQUIPMENT

COMPARISONSUsed 200 days per year, 6 hours per day, 60%

diversity, .15/kW hourConsumables such as lamps based on

published hours

TYPICAL HIGH SCHOOL - CONVENTIONALEQUIPMENT COST - $139,000.00INSTALLATION AND YEAR ONE COST -

$88,116TOTAL - $227,116ANNUAL OPERATING COSTS - $15,516

COMPARISONSUsed 200 days per year, 6 hours per day, 60%

diversity, .15/kW hourReplacement lamps are not an issue

TYPICAL HIGH SCHOOL - LEDEQUIPMENT COST - $197,482INSTALLATION AND YEAR ONE COST -

$37,954TOTAL - $235,436ANNUAL OPERATING COSTS - $2,104

SERVICE LIFE - LEDAssume an L70 of 50,000 hoursAssume usage at 6 hours per day, 200 days

per yearLife expectancy would be over 40 years!!Things break before that - LED equipment is

more expensive to replace which must be considered

Annual Operating Savings pays for brand new equipment in about 15 years at today’s dollars

CONCLUSIONSVery significant operational advantages to an LED

theatre lighting systemIf you have the budget you can do an all LED theatreEven if you have a “conventional” budget you can

incorporate LED to an extent that is significant enough to drive your system design

Provide for the future use of LED in your system designDistribute DataProvide Capacity in the Control SystemProvide the ability to turn power supplies off

AN ALL LED THEATREQUESTIONS

DISCUSSION

THANK YOU