IBC 2013: Photon Beard to show Square One lighting panel, Platinum Blonde linear lamp
Square One is a one-foot (30 cm) square fluorescent lighting panel that is said to produce more light, more economically, than any other 1’x1’ fixture in the marketplace. The panel includes eight 5/8” diameter fluorescent tubes that deliver the equivalent of 110W of balanced illumination, but draws only 64W of power. What sets Square One apart is its consistent, predictable colour, with far fewer of the spikes and spectral variations typically associated with LED fixtures.
Photon Beard managing director Peter Daffarn comments: “Broadcast and film application need a high quality light that is, first and foremost, consistent. Square One provides that and more. The benefit of its low power, ultra-low heat profile is that it’s also ideal for tight spaces, which enables drama, news and sport production teams to get much closer to the action without fear of melting or sweltering.”
Square One is also dimmable for maximum flexibility and can be powered either direct from AC power or for approximately one hour with a ‘V’ or ‘Gold’ mount camera battery.
Making its world debut at IBC is Photon Beard’s Platinum Blonde, a 1200W HMI linear lamp in an open face format with electronic ballast. The open face, raw output format is ideal for use as a bounce light or for punching through diffusion to create an ultra-soft yet powerful daylight source. At only 1200W it can be powered from any domestic supply and is ideal for mobile situations such as filming a moving vehicle.
To address the annoyance of not being able to completely switch off multiple lighting devices, ie., they remain in power-drawing standby mode, Photon Beard is featuring a DMX-controlled Non-Dim Pack, a variation of its IgbT silent dimmer packs. Instead of individual dimmers on each light, the control fixtures contain DMX-controlled relays which simply switch fully on or, importantly, fully off. Each output can be individually controlled, so any fixture that is not needed can be remotely disconnected and, therefore, not drain valuable power resources.
Photon Beard is also introducing a new space light adapter for its class-leading Highlight 440 fluorescent lamps. The Highlight 440 offers the advantage of ultra-cool operation and provides highly stable colour temperature, irrespective of intensity.
A new cyclorama hood, also to augment the Highlight 440 range, enables a single fixture to fully illuminate space up to six metres from top to bottom rather than requiring multiple lighting fixtures to be positioned from multiple angels to achieve the safe effect.