You knew that, sooner or later, LEDs would get moving. Manufacturers would develop automated fixtures using light-emitting diodes as the sole light source, since LEDs have become brighter, smaller, and more cost-effective. LEDs now produce a lot of light—as well as a wide range of colors—and marrying them with a moving yoke, they put color washes just where you need them.

In addition to creative benefits, LED automated lights offer economic and “green” benefits. With no lamps to replace, they have no associated costs of stockpiling spares, and they are lower maintenance due to limited moving parts. This reduces the total cost of ownership compared to traditional fixtures. They have lower power consumption with higher outputs, no ultraviolet or infrared output, long life, reduced weight for rigging, and quick color changes. Many of the LED lights in this overview are more compact than traditional automated lights, saving on truck and inventory space. The output and efficiencies of the current batch of LEDs are generally brighter than traditional discharge or tungsten sources, yet the heat is reduced. Heat is still related to the wattage, and as a lot of LEDs are ganged together, there is still an appreciable amount of heat that needs to be dissipated. While many tout LEDs with a life of over 100,000 hours, 50,000 hours is a conservative/realistic estimate, especially since output drops significantly after 50,000 hours of use. Still, 50,000 hours is a lot better than 300 or even 3,000 hours from tungsten and discharge lamps.

For this overview—arranged by manufacturer—of some of the automated lights available that use LEDs as the source of illumination, we’re looking at fixtures with pan and tilt. While many take a similar approach to fixture design, some also incorporate video capability. Some manufacturers are attempting to match a lens with LEDs to provide a hard-edge light with patterns to make an LED projector. The first attempts need more ”oomph“ to get really usable amounts of light for most applications, but all the luminaires mentioned represent the next step in the LED revolution.

1. The ShowPix™ from Barco/High End Systems was the first in HES’ line of Pixelation Luminaires. Its 18" diameter head features a circular array of 127 3W RGB LEDs. It was designed as not only a wash light, but as a display device with images. ShowPix has a beam angle of 45° and a field angle of 80°. The moving yoke has a pan range of 400° and a tilt range of 240°. The unit measures 23.4"x20.6"x33" and weighs 108lbs.

2. The Barco/High End Systems’ StudioPix™ is the second product in HES’ line of Pixelation Luminaires. Smaller than the ShowPix™, it features a circular array of 61 homogenous 3W RGB LEDs on a 13.5" diameter head. The unit measures 21.3"x11.8"x23.7" and weighs 46lbs.
Both ShowPix and StudioPix are equipped with 411 stock content animations and patterns, and you can upload files and images through the HES Echo™ application, a software program for content visualization and management, as well as RDM management. A user-selectable pixel-mapping protocol also provides individual control of each LED. The DMX Scratch™ feature allows a user to synchronize the frames of a media file to music in realtime. Both units use 5-pin locking XLR DMX connectors for Data-In/Out and have a USB connector for uploading or a Wholehog DMX Widget. 

3. The Chauvet Legend™ 4500 uses 54 RGBW LEDs—720mA red, 1,000mA blue, green, and white—and comes with 15° lenses for a beam angle of 10° and a field angle of 22°. An optional 30° lens is also available. It has the ability to adjust color temperatures; preset values range from 3,200K to 10,000K. Functions and features include variable electronic strobe, electronic dimming, remote fixture reset, automatic pan and tilt correction, adjustable fan rate, an LCD display with password protection, and Neutrik PowerCon power connectors. It requires 10 or 14 channels of DMX for control and weighs 37lbs.

4. The Chauvet Q-Spot 150 LED uses one 20W LED coupled with optics to provide a hard-edge light with a beam angle of 16˚. It comes with an eight-step color wheel plus white and a seven-position rotating slot-and-lock gobo wheel with a three-facet prism. A sliding cover provides tool-less access to the gobo wheel. Other features include built-in, automated sound-activated programs and the ability to program and save up to 255 scenes in the fixture without a DMX controller. The pan and tilt, up to 530˚ and 270˚ respectively, are user set for precise coverage and have automatic pan/tilt correction. The unit requires 9 or 11 channels of DMX for control and weighs 13.5lbs.

5. The Coemar iWash LED, distributed in the US by Inner Circle Distribution incorporates 37 1.2W Luxeon LEDs—12 each RGB and one white—and comes with a 12° lens with an optional 30° lens kit. It features an electronic dimmer and strobe with synchronized, random pulse effects. The unit has a pan range of 538° and a tilt range of 230°. Setting and addressing can be done at the LED display or remotely, and the fixture requires 12 channels of DMX control and uses 3-pin locking XLR DMX connectors for Data-In/Out. Power consumption is 0.6A at 230V, 1.2A at 115V. The unit measures 18.5"x13.8"x13.2" and weighs 25lbs.

6. The Elation Professional Impression uses 90 Luxeon K2 LEDs and is available in two versions: an RGB version with 30 LEDs per color and a white version with 60 cold white LEDs and 30 amber LEDs, so you can adjust the color temperature. The fixture includes a color calibration feature as well as internal color presets, and it has 660° of pan and 300° of tilt. The optical system features a collimator cluster with an interchangeable lens carrier with 10° beam angle as standard and an optional 25° lens. It has a low-noise ventilation system with overheat protection. The compact design allows these units to be hung on 14" centers, and the fixtures use 3-pin locking XLR DMX connectors for Data-In/Out. It is constructed with a die cast aluminum head and industrial lightweight plastics so the fixture weighs 16lbs.

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