Lighting is the next most common part of the AV equation. Old school theaters used footlights at the edge of the stage and chandeliers to light the performers so the audience could see them. This involved actual fire which definitely caused some problems in the past. Today, LED lighting has overtaken the industry and replaced more fragile and less efficient conventional lamps. Other sources are halogen, tungsten, HID, or arc lamps.
As you can tell there many types of light sources used in the AV world. There are even more types of lighting fixtures and uses for them. The most common is the ellipsoidal reflector light (ERS). It is commonly called a leko light because that was the name brand that one of the original manufacturers used. Today most people know them as Source 4 lights because in the 90’s ETC developed a much more efficient version of an ERS light. That light was capable of 1000 watts of brightness with only a 750 watt lamp. The Source 4 lights quickly took over as the industry standard lighting fixture.
There is actually 2 types of Source 4 fixtures, the ERS and a PAR fixture. Par stands for Parabolic aluminum reflector. The basic par is commonly called a can light as it looks like a silver can with a round back. The round back houses the lamp and basic pars typically use 1000 watt bulbs that include the aluminum reflector in back and a glass lens in front. Source 4 pars are special in that they use the same replaceable lamp as the ERS style and they have separate interchangeable lenses. When compared to a standard 1000 watt par the Source 4 pars are also as efficient as their ERS counterpart with a 750 watt lamp.
Other types of lighting fixtures are used in AV as well but we will get into that and fixture usage and lighting design at another time. Come back soon for more articles where we will break down lighting into more digestible bites and explain it for you. What was the coolest thing you have ever seen done with lighting at a concert or theater? Leave your reply in the comments below. Don’t forget to tell us what you want to know more about with lighting and we will add it to the list of future topics!