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Lighting Product Review: Vari-Lite VL1000 TSD Luminaire
Vari-Lite knew when they wanted to expand their product offerings into the house of worship market that there were some stringent requirements to meet, noise being one of them, as well as having a lamp that would blend in with the non-automated lighting. The VL1000 fits the bill; Vari-Lite defines the VL1000 as “a remote-controlled, automated ellipsoidal reflector spot luminaire,” which is a very accurate description. The Vari-Lite VL1000 TSD luminaire really is an automated ellipsoidal reflector spotlight, complete with shutters and a tungsten lamp that plays well with other theatrical fixtures. It is also quiet enough to be used in churches without the worry of having to use a lot of music to cover up any noise it might make.
There are different versions of the VL1000, however, we wanted to take a closer look at the TSD model. The T stands for tungsten, the lamp source; the S stands for shutter; and the D stands for dimmer. The original VL1000 required an outboard dimmer to dim the lamp. The engineers at Vari-Lite worked with Entertainment Technology (ET) on creating a version of the IGBT electronic dimmer that ET had been producing. They would create an on-board dimmer inside the yoke. IGBT dimmers have a rise time of 800 microseconds for a very quiet dimmer.
When you use the shutter model, there is a four-blade shutter system that can frame the light beam to scenery, drapes, architectural features or to crop down a pattern. The entire shutter system can be rotated plus or minus 45 degrees, and each shutter is capable of moving all the way into the center of the beam, as well as rotating plus or minus 35 degrees. It should be noted that there is a TID model that incorporates an iris. If you choose the iris model, the iris can be used in addition to the zoom optics and can provide continuous beam size control for fast changes and smooth, timed beam angle changes.
Attributes
Like a traditional ellipsoidal, the VL1000 has a standard zoom range of 19-36 degrees. There is a super zoom that can take the beam out to 70 degrees for a wash effect. The motors are nice and smooth, so you can program the zoom from two seconds through two minutes. There is a diffusion effect so you can soften out the beam or a pattern. The color system consists of a cross-fading CMY system. The unit does have accessory ears at the front of the lens tube, with a locking latch, if you want to put in a frame of fixed color, color correction or diffusion. This will also hold a top hat and has a frame size of eight inches.
The pattern wheel has five rotatable, indexable pattern positions and one open position. It is fairly easy to change patterns. There is a tethered cover to the gobo wheel section. You do need to be careful not to scratch the gobo on the side of the carrier when installing it, and the gobo has to be oriented with the mirrored side towards the lamp. If not oriented properly, heat will crack the glass.
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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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