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Designed originally for "Miss Saigon", the internationally acclaimed musical, the Digital Light Curtain provides a saturated wall of colour; the intensity, position and parameters of which are DMX controlled from most lighting desks. Tungsten lamps and Rosco Supergel provide the quality of light whilst the motors and belt drives enable smooth and silent motion.

Digital Light Curtains are available in 6 or 8 lamp versions. The integral tilt drive and colour scroller provide maximum versatility and the optional pitching yoke adds yet another dimension to the Digital Light Curtain's movement.

Control is either via our own software package or by DMX 512 and either method will give smooth, continuous motion at all speeds for both tilt and colour. Alignment of multiple units is easily achieved whichever control method is used, and by utilising DHA's Light Moves Software, finely tuned control can easily be achieved to 1/10° of tilt. See Image.

For further technical enquiries please email: bakern@rosco-europe.com

DIGITAL LIGHT CURTAIN SPECIFICATIONS
Lamps  |  Tilt System  |  Colour Scroller  |  Installation  |  Control  |  The Pitching Light Curtain

Lamps
The Digital Light Curtain uses 12V 240W PAR 56 lamps, wired in series. DHA recommends the use of very narrow beam angle lamps. Neon indicators beside each lamp will signal filament failure. Lamps locate positively into position for perfect alignment of filaments and may easily be replaced using a flat bladed screwdriver. A safety interlock cuts power when the unit is opened.

Tilt System
The Digital Light Curtain is capable of rotating through 320° along its centre axis to 1/10° resolution with almost no backlash. Tilt moves are programmed by time - from 60° per second to one hour for a move.

Colour Scroller
The built-in scroller unit holds up to 20 colours. The scroll is mounted on a detachable roller to enable a complete scroll change to be the simple process of replacing a single roller. Spare scrolls may be stored on rollers which are inexpensive and available from stock. Fractional positions can be programmed to 1/10 of a colour band allowing the use of split colours for special effects. Colour changes are specified by time - from a maximum speed of approximately 2 colours per second to one hour for a move.

Installation
The Digital Light Curtain has been designed to hang in rows whilst minimising the disruption of the lamp centres between adjoining units. Each Digital Light Curtain is suspended from two hook clamps.

Control
The Digital Light Curtain's on board microprocessor facilitates a high degree of control via the Light Talk protocol. There are no thumb wheel switches to set as units are remotely patched and repatched. Individual Digital Light Curtains can be cued either independently or in user defined groups.

Colour and tilt movements are independently timed and both are extremely smooth, even at very low speeds. Digital Light Curtains, hung end to end, can be aligned with each other electronically, dispensing with the need for precise mechanical adjustment. Light Talk control allows straightforward daisy-chaining of control cables.

The Pitching Light Curtain
The Pitching Light Curtain Yoke can be fitted to any DHA 6 or 8 lamp Digital Light Curtain. This adds a second axis of movement whilst maintaining the smoothness and accuracy for which the Digital Light Curtain is well known.

The angle of pitch is plus or minus 30° and is accurate to 1/10° when controlled from Light Moves software. See Image.

LIGHT MOVES - APPLE MACINTOSH CONTROL SOFTWARE
A sophisticated control package has been written for any Apple Macintosh computer. It manages up to 99 Digital Light Curtains, enabling versatile plotting, editing and execution of cues, on or off line, as well as a wide range of housekeeping and diagnostic functions. The Macintosh may itself be driven from certain lighting desks or remotely triggered from any analogue signal.

Light Moves version 1.5 incorporates MIDI Show Control and simple configuration of all remote trigger options. Light Moves can be run on the same Macintosh and at the same time as Show Control software and cues can be sent either way between Light Moves and external hardware or other MIDI software packages.

THE DMX TO LIGHT TALK CONTOLLRER
DHA's DMX to Light Talk controller integrates Digital Light Curtains with DMX512 based lighting control. It can be used on its own to allow direct plotting and control from any DMX board. With the addition of an Apple Macintosh computer and DHA's Light Moves software any additional Digital Light Curtain features can be accessed whilst maintaining DMX position and colour control. Alternatively the same controller can be use for synchronising Light Moves cues with any DMX board.

When used in stand-alone mode the DMX to Light Talk controller can control up to 12 Digital Light Curtains or 9 Pitching Light Curtains by utilising a single DMX channel per function - tilt, colour, pitch. Initialisation and calibration of the Digital Light Curtains are automatic but, if necessary, they can be remotely reset via DMX. Using the DMX to Light Talk controller in conjunction with an Apple Macintosh computer during setup enables a wider range of facilities to be accessed. Full diagnostic and error feedback is available along with the ability to set the DMX range and resolution for each unit. Electronic alignment between units is also possible as is the directional reversal of any individual Digital Light Curtain. Setup is retained once the the Apple Macintosh connection is removed.

When used as a trigger for Light Moves the DMX to Light Talk controller gives access to a simple decimal cue number programming system. Each individual cue number can be triggered independently or alternatively a simple 'go next cue' trigger can be implemented. Plotting through Light Moves allows full 1/10° resolution of 320° range and selection of colour is via a pop up menu which lists colours by name.