First, the status of dimming control system

1.1 The composition of the dimming control system

Dimming control system is mainly composed of dimming console, dimmer and auxiliary equipment. As shown in Figure 1.

Dimming consoles group lighting fixtures to control changes in light levels and colors, turning the lighting designer's artistic ideas into reality. Therefore, whether the selection of the dimming console is correct has a great influence on the lighting designer's artistic creation.

The dimmer receives the control signal sent from the dimming console, and controls the voltage changes at both ends of the lamp source on the stage or in the studio in accordance with the control tempo of the dimming console, adjusts the luminous brightness of the lamp, and realizes the light intensity of the airborne sound. Orderly distribution, in order to achieve the lighting designer's design purposes, it must be noted that: dimmers are devices that control electrical signals through weak electrical signals. When the equipment is selected, its reliability, anti-interference, and safety must be fully considered. .

1.2 Dimming console

At present, the types of dimming consoles in China are relatively complete, including analog, digital, computerized light consoles, as well as small loops, medium loops, and large loop dimming stations, which can fully meet the performance needs of various venues, regardless of the quality of human products. From a technical perspective, it is rapidly approaching the international advanced level.

The computer lighting consoles abroad (such as STRANDLIGHTING's 500 series) were integrated into the market of large-loop dimming stations in the early years. In recent years, domestic lighting control system manufacturers have rapidly emerged, such as Guangzhou Hedong Electronics Co., Ltd. One of the typical. The HDL-2848 computer circuit tuners HDL-2848 manufactured by Hedong Enterprise have been developed and perfected for many years, with high performance-to-price ratio (half of the price of similar foreign products), and the flexibility of operation (central control, Q-field, effects, etc.) and easy editing and modification. Features such as stable and reliable performance, unique user interface in Chinese and English, etc., are well received by television studios, theaters, stadiums, multi-purpose halls, and audio-visual centers.

Especially domestic digital lighting consoles (such as Hedong Enterprise's SPLC series), reasonable prices, strong functions (programmable centralized control, chase effects, audio control, etc.), good compatibility (both digital and analog signal output ).

1.3 Dimmer

From the use of occasions, there are two kinds of dimmers: flow-type silicon box and fixed-type silicon box. The main types of flow-type silicon boxes are 6-way (6KW/line), 12-way (3KW/line), etc. Usually, four flow-type silicon boxes and one power box are stacked in an aircraft box to form a flow unit. Ideal for use in mobile shows, small studios and arenas. The main types of fixed type silicon cabinets are 60, 90, and 96 units per unit cabinet, and the output power is 3KW and 6KW each. The combination of unit silicon cabinets can constitute 120, 180, 240, and 270. , 360 road and other standard configuration, suitable for large and medium-sized studios and stage use.

From a technical perspective, dimmers can be divided into analog, semi-digital, and all-digital categories (see Reference 1 for details). The all-digital dimmer technology is the most advanced. At present in the world, it has good dimming consistency, high dimming precision, large dimming range, multiple dimming curves, and high degree of intelligence. . The first domestic manufacturer to apply all-digital dimming technology is Guangzhou Hedong Electronics Co., Ltd., and its representatives of all-digital dimming products are HDL-D96 (96 loops, 6KW per lane) silicon cabinets and HDL-DDP6 (6 channels per channel. KW), HDL-DDP12 (12 channels, each 3KW) silicon box.

1.4 Auxiliary dimming equipment

In order to ensure the normal performance of the program, auxiliary dimming equipment is usually added to the main control dimming device.

For the dimming console, you can add the slave console. At this time, you need to configure a signal recognizer to automatically complete signal switching. In addition to the scenario where a backup console is added to the master console, a field backup controller can also be configured to pre-store the designed scene into the farm backup controller. When the console fails, the lighting technician can also transfer the contents of the controllers pre-stored on the field to the slave controller to complete the program performance.

For the dimmer, the controller can be added to the dual power supply for hot backup to improve the system reliability, in addition to the traditional analog dimmer matching the digital signal of the modern dimming console, need to be in the dimmer Join the decoder to complete the conversion of digital signals to analog signals.

Between the dimming console and the dimmer, when the two are far away from each other, a signal amplifier needs to be added to amplify the DMX512 digital transmission signal so as to ensure reliable signal transmission and reception between systems.

Second, the development of dimming control system

2.1 Digitization

Digitization means that physical quantities (such as light source brightness, voltage, current, temperature, etc.) and switching quantities (such as the on/off state of air switches, windy and windless state of exhaust fans, etc.) are represented by binary digits, and digital quantities can be stored and converted. Reproducing and processing, which is impossible to achieve using analog. The typical applications of digital technology are computer dimmers and all-digital dimming silicon boxes and silicon cabinets. There is no doubt that the traditional analog dimming technology will complete the historic mission to exit the dimming stage in the next few years. Instead, the modern digital dimming technology will occupy the stage and professional dimming market in the traditional analog dimming technology. In the transition to modern digital dimming technology, it is necessary to understand the technical characteristics of digital dimming control systems.

To sum up, digital dimming control system has the following characteristics:

1> Enhanced reliability and enhanced anti-interference ability

Due to the adoption of digital technology, the degree of system integration is greatly improved, the board-level failure rate is significantly reduced, the robustness of the stand-alone system is enhanced, and the overall performance of the system is greatly improved. Especially after the DMX512 digital transmission protocol is adopted, various types of data transmission links between systems are used. The interference is effectively suppressed, basically solving the wired and wireless interference problems caused by the use of analog signals in the transmission process.

2> Multi-function, flexible and convenient operation

Compared with the analog dimming control system, the typical functions of the digital dimming control system are: console--centralized control can page, can record thousands of Q fields, hundreds of effects, in addition to groups, macros, etc. ; Dimmer - more than 1024-level dimming accuracy, 1% -100% of the dimming range, more than 10 dimming curves, grid frequency automatic tracking, all digital dimming and dimming output exactly the same, dual Dual power potential backup.

The typical operations of the digital dimming control system include: console control, Q-field, effects, etc. records, modify, maintain, run, share, and backup. Dimmer on-site adjustment, field backup and replay, self-test, important parameter feedback.

2.2 Networking

The network dimming control system has the following features:

1> Resource Sharing

The main console has various types of information resources such as a computerized light control information database and a performance database. Through the network, the sub-control station can call up relevant information.

2>Distribution control

During the performance, the substations can be placed in different places. The main console decomposes the tasks to various sub-stations via the network. Under the coordination of the main consoles, the sub-stations work together to complete the entire performance task.

3> Risk dispersion

When a substation fails, the main console can directly take over or designate a substation to take over the whip and ensure the smooth performance of the show.

Hedong's all-digital dimming silicon cabinet HDL-D96 makes full use of network technology, enabling lighting technicians not only to operate directly on the silicon cabinet, to perform on-site control dimming, but also to perform remote diagnosis and monitoring through the network.

2.3 Intelligent

Intelligent dimming control system collects relevant information by means of various types of sensors, establishes digital models and databases, and uses various advanced algorithms (such as self-learning, neural network, expert systems, etc.) for data processing, greatly improving system compatibility. Sexual and environmental adaptability.

All-digital dimming silicon cabinet HDL-D96 can detect temperature, current, voltage, air-open state, fan status and other parameters, monitor the operation of the system and feedback all kinds of information to the upper management system in real time, with intelligent basic feature.

Intelligentization represents the development direction of professional grading for stage and film and television.