IGBT stage lighting dimmers: an introduction
Imagine being able to plug your stage and theater lighting fixtures directly into dimmers that are quiet and don’t generate the heat of SCR dimmers. You are imagining IGBT dimming, a revolution in dimming technology.
IGBT dimmers bring the future to your theater, club, auditorium or sanctuary with drastically reduced installation costs. Mounted anywhere you mount light fixtures, they are smaller and lighter than SCR dimmers. Better yet, they don’t produce any mechanical buzzing or buzzing.
Distributed Dimming Benefits
o Easy to design, expand and install
o Dramatically reduces installation and equipment costs
o Locate quiet dimming strips next to light fixtures
o Much less wiring
o Reduced voltage drops
o No dimming panel required
Benefits of power and silence
o State-of-the-art regulation technology
o Silent dimmers and charging
o Neutral low harmonics
o Short circuit protection
o High-density racks
o Control of various load types including magnetic/electronic transformers and electronic fluorescent dimming ballasts
Intelligence and Control Benefits
o Stations, keyboards, wireless PCs and consoles for simple or complex applications
o Wide range of attractive and matching controls for fully integrated projects
o Industry standard wiring practices
o Open Windows®-based control protocols
A case study
When Cornish College of the Arts began converting Seattle’s historic Sons of Norway Hall into a theater, plans called for the installation of a full air conditioning system just to cool the old-style SCR rack dimming system that produced heat that they planned to use. Dave Tosti-Lane, president of Cornish’s Performance Production Department, began looking for a different solution.
The university had already gone through the ordeal of remodeling a concert hall to the tune of thousands of dollars just to relocate a rack of noisy dimmer. They didn’t want to go through that again. PNTA’s Mac Perkins recommended the Intelligent Raceway system from Entertainment Technology, a Genlyte Thomas company. The beauty of an IGBT system, as Dave discovered, was that it would not only avoid the noise problem, but also reduce heat loads.
The savings from not having to do a full air conditioning system practically paid for the dimmers. They also saved money by not having the associated costs of load wiring from the dimmers to the circuits and all the extra wiring and time it takes to run the wires from the dimmer rack to the lighting instruments.
While cost savings may have been the main benefit, close behind was the focus button system that was fitted. This feature allowed the team to finish hanging the first show in the new theater in record time. The trio hung, circled and focused 130 fixtures in two five-hour lighting calls.
And as a sound designer, Dave was really grateful for the lack of fans and chokes.
With all its benefits, IGBT dimming systems are a boon to the staging of theatrical productions.
Copyright 2007 ATPA