Industry Insights: LED lighting and IP, where the instruments are headed

What changes are you seeing this year that is impacting your products?

“There is a trend towards requiring ingress protection on products so they can be used in all weather situations. Market awareness of the importance of light quality is also driving demand for products with better color rendition. Battery power and portability are also strong trends this year,” explained Berkeljon.

“What’s really exciting about the direction of the lighting industry is advancements in technologies that provide more creative use of lighting in production. Specifically, Cineo has developed new fixtures that provide the same high-fidelity white lighting we’re known for, while adding an independently saturated color gamut closely matching the color space defined for the new UHD cameras,” Pierceall noted.

“The need for less light with the new camera technologies. The need for quality light is up, but fewer purchase decisions are being based on highest lumen output,” Harn said.

“TV stations need to continue to substitute their inefficient incandescent fixtures to save money. Local TV and radio stations no longer required to have local studios. This will further consolidate fewer broadcasting groups. Traditional TV (broadcast air and cable) is having strong changes among Millennials that watch most of their content on smartphones. They also spend about 27% less time watching traditional TV (89% among 35+ vs. 66% of Millennials). This changes will demand much more but smaller studios for the new Social Media Celebrities, Live Streamers and YouTubers are becoming the new audiovisual stars,” Noriega said.

“Size and brightness. The efficiency and light output of LEDs continue to improve. We are also finding that customers are now more educated and are asking the important questions about color rendering and brightness,” Neis said.

“We’re seeing a bigger shift to the multi RGBW LEDs now from the top and from the bottom. We see a bigger impact on the market in the future with this type of lighting,” Garcia said.

“Since we introduced the Bi-color LED panel years ago and now the ability to dial in colors with our Gemini 2×1, the ease of being able to quickly change the color temperature or hue has made life on-set much easier and lighting setups much quicker. The popularity of LED lighting comes from its mobility. This has not only made an impact on our products but has impacted lighting professionals by enabling them to work much faster,” Ipakchian stated.

How does IP production play into lighting and your products beyond DMX?

“Let’s face it, DMX was invented 40 years ago, when dial-up modems ruled the world. The ability for lighting instruments to become network nodes is a natural progression, putting more features and control in the hands of professionals,” said Pierceall.

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“More flexibility, more remote control and distance control – everything is expanded and improved. The effect on products is only beginning. It will give the lighting designer an expanded pallet. One thing we’re looking at is ‘shape-shifting’ the light wash from a single instrument,” Harn noted.

“We are not seeing a great adoption of IP technologies in lighting systems, and most broadcasters are sticking to trusted DMX or wireless DMX systems,” said Berkeljon.

“IP is becoming a part of all TV workflows but it is not a panacea, some studios are struggling to change or have staff that works with these new set of solutions, DMX is a standard that works also in entertainment and shows lighting and has proven very efficient,” Noriega stated.

“We are looking at all things IP related for our future production of lighting fixtures. We have seen the impact this has had on the live broadcast world and on other parts of the broadcasting industry,” said Garcia.

Make sure to read our roundtable with broadcast lighting designers for more of the trends right now in lighting.

Participants

Tama Berkeljon – Outsight
Barry Garcia – Ikan
Glen Harn – PrimeTime Lighting
Alan Ipakchian – Litepanels
Jose Maria Noriega – Fluotec
Tobin Neis – Barbizon Lighting Company
Rich Pierceall – Cineo Lighting

[focus-on]This article is part of our Focus On Lighting Design for TV, presented by Fluotec. View more from the series here.[/focus-on]