The new lens system accessory was also successfully tested in previous generation Robe LED profiles.
Robe Lighting has announced that it has created a patented 6:1 Hot-Spot Lens System for the new Esprite LED profile luminaire on request from the team at Lightswitch. The new Robe Lighting Esprite LED is a fully-featured automated luminaire that has a fast-change, low-cost, transferable light engine which promises to solve the problem of performance longevity for white source LED luminaires.
The TE 650W white LED source produces 27,000 lumens and a piercing 85,000 lux at 5 meters, and the patent-pending Hot-Spot Lens system allows designers to move from a flat field beam to a 6:1 ratio hot-spot beam giving uniform intensity when overlaying beam edges.
Commenting on the new lighting system, John Featherstone, Lightswitch Partner and Principal, said: “This really goes back to the fundamentals of lighting design and what it is that lighting designers truly want. For a lot of applications, the quest for a long time has been for the flattest field possible. If you are lighting scenery, doing gobo projections or want a nice, fat beam of light in the air, a flat beam field is optimal. Conversely, there are also a lot of applications where you really want a distinct 2:1 aspect ratio peak field.”
He explained: “Based on the simple law of physics, if you’re creating adjacent areas of light on the stage and you have a perfectly flat field, you will have light doubling where those areas overlap. This then produces a very uneven, or a difficult to make even, light distribution. On the other hand, if you have a 2:1 centre edge to beam fall-off, when you overlap the edges of those beams, you get the same amount of light where the two beams intersect as you get in the middle of one.”
“Traditionally with moving lights, an even stage wash has been accomplished by using a fixture model that only does a peak beam field or one which offers an interchangeable peak beam reflector for arc sources,” admitted John. “The challenge with this is the amount of work behind it as you have to dissemble the light in the shop creating inventory management challenges, and anything that costs money to the shop costs money to the show.”
As the Czech Republic-based Robe Lighting was introducing its latest automated LED luminaire, the team at Lightswitch took this opportunity to see if they could make the solution a reality.
“Josef Valchar, CEO and co-founder of Robe Lighting, asked us about our wish list during an evaluation of an early prototype of the current generation LED Profile luminaire” explained John. “In true designer fashion, we said we would like a fixture that could produce a flat field when we wanted it, and then also a peak field when we needed it. Essentially, we wanted to have our cake and eat it too.”
To that end, Valchar worked with the Robe optical design engineers and created an innovative Hot-Spot Lens System for the Esprite and T1 Series of LED profiles. The new lens system accessory was also successfully tested in previous generation Robe LED profiles, and will continue to be implemented in future product releases when applicable.
Valchar remarked: “During the design phase of all our Robe and Anolis luminaires, we often seek to enlist the input of lighting designers, dealers and distributors worldwide. We understand that they are the creative minds who will be applying the technology behind our innovative line of lighting solutions, and we must always try and provide the tools necessary to achieve and exceed their own expectations.”
