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Manufacturer’s Roundtable: Lighting Control Protocols
Clearing up the alphabet soup of control protocols
When you are putting together a lighting system, you often start with the control console, choose the dimmers, and then pick the peripherals. You build a network that from the console allows you to control the whole system. The thing that ties everything together is the control protocol, the common language that all the components speak to each other. With current lighting protocols you can pick a console from company A and dimmers from company B. This wasn’t always the case. Prior to the mid 1980s you had to have a console and dimmers from one company, because they all had proprietary protocols. Today we have standardized protocol options.
You can thank DMX or as it is formally known—ANSI E1.11 – 2004, Entertainment Technology—USITT DMX512-A—Asynchronous Serial Digital Data Transmission Standard for Controlling Lighting Equipment and Accessories. It was published in 1986 by the United States Institute of Theatre Technology (USITT), and since then millions of DMX512-compatible devices have been installed around the world. You can also thank the hard work and hours of time put in by volunteers from manufacturers, rental houses, and universities for the freedom of choices and the ability to mix and match to create your ideal system.
I recently spoke with three people who have long histories with lighting control protocols and have informed ideas about the future of control protocols. They shared their experience and advice on what the current state of the art is for lighting control protocols; what’s new; and what’s next. DMX, RDM, ACN—it may seem like an alphabet soup, but these three industry leaders’ insights should help clear it all up for you.
This roundtable consists of Michael Lay, vice president of system engineering with Strand Lighting of Cypress, California, and co-chair of the New York, New York-based ESTA Control Protocols Working Group; Dave Higgins, founder and president of Pathway Connectivity based in Calgary, AB, Canada; and Steve Terry, vice president of research and development with Electronic Theatre Controls Inc. (ETC) in Middleton, Wisconsin.
CPM: Do you feel that DMX512 is still the standard for control protocols?
LAY: Without a doubt, DMX512 has the largest installed base of equipment when compared to other entertainment protocols. And more DMX512 devices are installed each year.
TERRY: Yes, and I think that it always will be for the foreseeable future for those short-haul applications between fixtures, target devices which are small and lightweight and the network. [There are] so many compelling reasons to keep using it. The appearance of RDM just extends its utility even further.
The most powerful thing about DMX that is going to keep it here for the foreseeable future is the interoperability of it. It is ubiquitous; every piece of equipment speaks DMX. There is tremendous power behind that.
CPM: What is it about DMX512 that made it the standard?
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Michael S. Eddy writes about design and technology. He can be reached at mseddy2900@hotmail.com. .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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