Yep, you read that right!
The lighting manufacturer that everyone knows has now hit the market running with the Selador line of LED luminaires. This is major news for ETC, as they haven’t had a line of LED fixtures yet – and with the quality and perfection in the Source Four line, ETC needed something that was an IN YO FACE move, and not a “hey look, we have LED stuff too!”
Fred Foster, the CEO of ETC, said that they wanted to “make a ‘me too’ RGB or RGBA product that didn’t provide the kind of significant innovation in lighting we strive for.” Foster continued: “With its exclusive x7 Color Systemâ„¢, the Selador product line produces a far superior quality of color and light to anything that we had seen before in LEDs.”
Rob Gerlach and Novella Smith are the co-founders of the Selador line of LED fixtures – Rob Gerlach recently posted an in-depth article on ETC’s blog, Light Minds Think Alike about the color mixing, intensity, and usability of the Selador line. From the article:
There are other components of Selador fixtures that are critical for them to look natural to the eye and seamless next to conventional fixtures in a rig. Selador fixtures have newly redesigned circuitry within them that allows for exceptionally smooth, analog-looking dimming. I have to say that this was surprisingly difficult to achieve with a light source as responsive and non-analog as an LED, but I am extremely pleased with the results. Selador is also known for terrific beam-shaping capabilities. No, we don’t yet have a Selador ellipsoidal (it will come) but the fixtures we do have can be shaped very nicely with specialized secondary lenses. We get a lot of compliments about this.
Among a whole list of things, ETC brings to the table a ready-made world of control. I know that seven-color mixing can be daunting. Within an ETC system, it’s all simplified. ETC makes Selador color mixing quick, intuitive, and predictable. In fact the latest software for the Eos and Congo control systems already allow designers to control the Selador fixtures by calling up gel colors. The fixture libraries in these systems are calibrating and I have to admit the color matches are very good. I’ll discuss this in more detail in a later entry. I’m pretty excited about it.
One of the facets of this new Selador line of LED luminares that stands out is their x& color mixing system. x7 uses seven color LEDs in place of the standard array that other fixtures utilize. From the ETC product page about Selador:
The Selador Series is built on the x7 Color System, which carefully proportions an unprecedented array of seven LED colors onto a single luminaire. It’s a patented technology based on a simple premise of additive color mixing: more color in means better light out.
Compared to conventional LED fixtures, which use just three or four colors, the Selador Series luminaires can produce a far more complete spectrum of both color and white light. And, with integrated color matching and HSI (hue, saturation and intensity) control for Selador products already built into the latest software releases for the Eos® and Congoâ„¢ console lines, ETC has made the control of LED fixtures more direct and user friendly than ever.
In the interest of being thorough, ETC’s news article also had this to say about the x7 system:
Selador’s x7 Color Systemâ„¢ seven-hue technology produces a light and color quality that conventional LED systems cannot duplicate. This unique color system produces bright broad spectrum whites and intense colors equally well, rendering pigments and skin tones in more a natural way.
The Selador fixtures have three flavors: The VIVID, which is the high-output LED fixture in the line; the LUSTR, which plays the role of the “white light specialist” in the Selador line; last is the PALETTA, which is hailed as the “jewel tone specialist” with its deep, rich artist palette colors. Just from reading about these online, I want to get my hands on one of each to give them a test!
The VIVID product:
VIVIDâ„¢ is the color and intensity powerhouse in the Seladorâ„¢ Series. Think oil paints — a luminaire with the kind of brilliant, bold saturated color that only LEDs can deliver. VIVID’s mix of high-power Luxeon® K2 LEDs is specially balanced for maximum color production with a strong, cutting beam of light. And, with the low-heat output of the Selador Series, you can have your colors blazing, without ever over-heating your talent.
- x7 Color Systemâ„¢ — seven color LEDs providing the broadest color spectrum in any LED fixture
- High brightness, intense color light with low power consumption
- Clear lenses for more direct, powerful beam — longer throws
- The permanence of a 50,000 hour source
- LED lighting technology backed by ETC’s acclaimed technical service
The LUSTR product:
Lustrâ„¢ is the white light specialist in the Seladorâ„¢ Series. Think watercolors — warm or cool pure white light slowly evolving into the softest tints and color shadings. In Lustr, the x7 Color Systemâ„¢ is optimized to produce theatrical-quality whites and tints that render pigments and skintones in their natural appearance. For key and fill light applications the Lustr features a yoke for one- and two-cell fixtures as well as frosted optics for a soft beam of light that blends well with your existing Source Fours®. The Lustr’s subtle tinting capability is also the perfect solution for lighting scenery.
- x7 Color Mixing system — seven color LEDs providing the broadest color spectrum in any LED fixture
- Incandescent-quality light with low power consumption
- The permanence of a 50,000-hour source
- LED lighting technology backed by ETC’s acclaimed technical service
Last in the Selador line, the PALETTA product:
Palettaâ„¢ is the jewel-tone specialist in the Seladorâ„¢ Series. Think artist’s pastels — deep, rich colors softly washing and blending. Paletta combines the x7 Color Systemâ„¢ and a finely-tuned array of Luxeon® Rebel LEDs with soft diffused optics to offer an incredible range of richly saturated color and pastels simply not available in conventional LED fixtures. Go ahead and dig deep into your swatch book for your favorite magentas and lavenders — Paletta is there to deliver.
- x7 Color System — seven color LEDs providing the broadest color spectrum in any LED fixture
- Deep color, soft-edged wash beam with low power consumption
- The permanence of a 50,000 hour source
- LED lighting technology backed by ETC’s acclaimed technical service
Novella Smith commented in the poress release from ETC regarding the line:
“With Selador technology, it’s hard to tell the LED light from the conventional stage lighting.” Gerlach adds: “It’s digital lighting that doesn’t look digital. And this goes beyond just the color-mixing. A big part of that is the control system built into the Selador fixtures — for really butter-smooth dimming and good fade-matching to ETC Source Four® fixtures and other conventional lighting equipment.”
I highly recommend checking out these new products! If you get your hands on one, send me an email through the contact page, I’d love to get a hands-on reaction from a user.
