ARRI has released a significant firmware update for its SkyPanel lighting products at the 2016 NAB Show in Las Vegas, Nevada. This update has added 10 new features and refinements to the SkyPanel, which is the company's compact, LED-based soft light intended for studio and live broadcast, theatre, houses of worship, and many other applications.
One of the most significant additions is the ability to now emulate a wide variety of well-known lighting gels. Selectable through the on-board SkyPanel controls or through a new DMX protocol, users now have gel libraries comprised of Rosco and Lee filter categories at their disposal–gel colors which are popular with many lighting designers and broadcast specifications.
Another added feature is the new Tungsten Mode. With this, SkyPanel can mimic the dimming curve and on/off lamp strike response seen from a transitional tungsten lamp. As the SkyPanel is dimmed, the color correction temperature dims. Additionally, when the intensity drops to zero quickly, there is a short afterglow of warm light. This emulation allows effortless integration with traditional tungsten sources.
Other features in the firmware update include low-end mode, dmx fan control, an increase to four dimming curves, Art-Net protocol implementation, and the ability to save/load presets and setting via USB directly into the fixture.
The SkyPanel Firmware 2.0 update is free of charge, available through ARRI's online website.
