The ETC FOS/4 line features a patent-pending combination of green, lime, blue, indigo, cyan, amber, red, and deep red LEDs to ensure optimal color representation and the most saturated light possible.
Over the past several decades the name ETC has become synonymous with quality stage lighting, lighting control and theatrical rigging. During that time ETC and its subsidiaries have continued to bring to market a number of breakthrough lighting technology, including the Source Four spotlight and Hog lighting control systems.https://blob.metropublisher.com/api/blob/573/downloads/14603/download/fos4_family-sized.jpg?cb=081e4c2cfaaec5e0d13eb2a5198fa837
Four years ago, a team was created at ETC to develop a new type of light specifically target to work with digital cameras. While LED lighting designed for video has been widely adopted over the past decade, the quality of this type of light has often been considered inferior to older, tungsten-based Fresnel lighting, especially when filming skin tones.
After considerable research the team at ETC identified one deficit in current LED light as an absence of long-wavelength, or “deep,” red color tones. The human eye usually compensates for those missing tones in a live setting, but camera sensors are incapable of accomplishing that same trick.
Image: ETC
Each of the three panel sizes in the fos/4 family (small, medium, and large) delivers “unrivaled brightness,” according to ETC, in two array options: a white light Daylight HDR array and a full color Lustr X8 array.
With the introduction of the fos/4 LED light panel ETC is introducing a new kind of LED light, one designed with an emphasis on producing far more accurate color renditions and the best skin tones possible in-camera. In this hands-on review we’ll explore what makes the fos/4 tick, how effective this new technology truly is, and how it can best be utilized in filmmaking and broadcast contexts.
Seeing the light
In a somewhat unique approach to rolling out a new technology, two distinct but related versions of the fos/4 are being released. Both versions of the fos/4 are able to produce a full range of lighting temperatures and color tone, as well as presets for special effects. The two versions will also be available in three different sizes, with the largest panel coming in at a massive 24 inches by 24 inches square, the medium panel following on at 16 inch by 24 inch, and the smallest measuring 8 inches tall by 24 inches wide.
The fos/4 has extremely bright LED lights. Even using the 8-inch by 24-inch panel, we were shocked with just how much luminance it produced the first time we fired it up.
The Daylight HDR fos/4 is designed to emphasize tunable white light, from a 1900-10450K temperature range, along with adjustable tint settings. The Daylight HDR fixture emphasizes overall brightness and specializes in cooler color temperatures, and would be ideal for matching with fluorescent, daylight, daylight LEDs, and HMI fixtures.
Both the Daylight HDR and Lustr X8 versions feature a user interface that allows easy operation of an array of functions, including quick and intuitive color temperatures or values selection.
By contrast, the Lustr X8 flavor of the fos/4 is designed to more effectively produce the full range of colors with a higher degree of saturation and a warmer white color emphasis. It features a patent-pending combination of green, lime, blue, indigo, cyan, amber, red, and deep red LEDs to ensure optimal color representation and the most saturated light possible.
Both versions share a unique user interface that allows for quick operation of a whole array of device functions, including quick and intuitive color temperatures or values selection. The light features near field communication (NFC) protocols for working with mobile devices using the ETC Set Light app, as well as a retractable built-in antenna for wireless DMX control.
The Daylight HDR 8-inch by 24-inch panel we reviewed was well constructed and was obviously engineered for years of field use in a wide variety of conditions. The two larger panels also feature newly designed corner handles, as well as a unique rail design on the back which can be used for mounting items like V-mount battery adaptors or cable hooks.
And … action
In our time with the fos/4 LED panel, we found the light to be extraordinarily intuitive and easy to use. In fact, we never once felt the need to break out the manual during the entire time we were putting the light through its paces. (With that in mind, we’d still recommend newer users familiarize themselves with all of the functions of the light so they don’t accidentally overlook some of the unexpectedly great features under the hood.)
The fos/4 has extremely bright LED lights. Even using the 8-inch by 24-inch panel, we were shocked with just how much luminance it produced the first time we fired it up. The light coming from the fos/4 was actually so powerful that within 15 minutes of turning the light on we began to break out double-diffused “book light” and bounce setups just to see what we could pull off with the light.
Dialing in different white light settings was a breeze, and having the ability to switch over to the full-color functionality with a single button push made it easier than ever to creatively experiment onset.
ETC claims up to 60,000 usable lumens on the largest 24-inch by 24-inch panel, but just what we were able to produce with the smaller panel in a studio setting was both unexpected and inspiring. It was honestly very impressive.
Dialing in different white light settings was a breeze, and having the ability to switch over to the full-color functionality with a single button push made it easier than ever to creatively experiment onset. We were also impressed with how adjustable the special effects like fire, lightning, police lights, and TV flicker were within the settings.
With that in mind, our fos/4 panel was on the heavier side for an LED light panel. Given the fixture’s build quality and the brightness, however, the weight isn’t over the top and shouldn’t be too much of a serious factor for all but the very smallest video production teams.
Deep reds
The real distinguishing characteristic of the fos/4 panels are the deep reds produced by the light and captured in-camera. After extensive studio comparison tests using multiple digital cinema cameras and several standard LED fixtures it’s clear that the deep reds produced by the fos/4 do make a significant impact on the image.
Skin tones produced by the fos/4 seem to have more of that richness produced by old-school tungsten lights, without the same resulting heat or the massive power draw. The effect is even more startling when compared head-to-head with standard LED light panels.
In our post-production tests we found that those deep reds can usually be emulated within a color grading software suite, but that process requires additional time and a colorist with an advanced skill set.
Target audience
The fos/4 ETC will very likely become a mainstay in national broadcast studios and on Hollywood film sets in the coming months and years. In the same way, the advantages of the fixture’s brightness and in-camera skin tone renditions for ministry settings will be a clear advantage for church production teams.
Larger church film teams running fuller-sized crews will be especially well-positioned to take advantage of these heavier fixtures. As a premium product with the requisite premium price tag, another likely use cases for the fos/4 panels will be installed video studio work where the need for real-time or near-real-time quality will immediately pay off.
Tech directors and lighting designers involved in weekend live production will also seriously want to consider the fos/4 panels for worship stage lighting. Within this context the advantages of these lights, from brightness to color to control to NFC and wireless DMX, should pay off, and pay off big for IMAG and and live streaming applications.
In conclusion
It doesn’t happen very often, but the ETC fos/4 LED panels represent a genuinely new technology, one that’s actually useful and could have an immediate impact in the context of ministry. And given its extremely impressive feature set, broadcast and tech directors will want to seriously consider setting up a demo of the fos/4 when developing upcoming studio or stage lighting projects.
