Page 36 - Zone Magazine Issue 021

techeventreview techeventreview
Musikmesse
and Pro Light
& Sound 2018
FRANKFURT, GERMANY
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T
he only certain thing is change...After the little lack in innovation of last year I really didn't expect too much this time. But that was really far away from what I saw this
year in Frankfurt. But let´s start from the beginning..
The journey to Frankfurt was a little bit chaotic this time, public employees were on strike, over 800 flights from Frankfurt airport were canceled and so traffic on the roads was quiet intense. We arrived in Frankfurt too late to get into the fair ground that day, so we started next morning.
That turned out to be no problem. The fair administration had re-established that the first days are open just for professionals and only the last two days for public. This leads to the fact that there was no traffic jam on the way to the fairground as it was last year and the ground itself was not so overfilled like normal. A very good time to talk to the exhibitors and take some time for it. Anyway, 800 exhibitors were going to be a lot of work.
In the weeks before the fair I had received a lot of information from different companies about their new developments and so I wanted to visit them here. We had a really strong schedule for the days to see what those developments are in real and get some background info about.
Well, you can´t invent the wheel again but there were quiet a lot of things I've never seen before. The essentials where for example new LED devices that work totally wireless. Rechargeable battery, wireless and wired DMX control, automatic and sound to light operation included. With operational times from 8 to 16h those items are a good alternative for situations when you just need a small light somewhere in the corner without the usual cables or for mobile use when you don´t have the chance to use cable. With costs starting at about 120€ per unit these items are
really interesting for small venues or open air party. Mount 4 or 8 of them to a T-bar and you´ve got enough light for a 20-30 people dancefloor. Even small movingheads are available with that technology and I guess there will be a lot more upcoming. Maybe it will lead to a kind of “Party equipment in a box” to have fun on sunny days at the beach or with some barbecue for your friends. Well, you can´t expect high-end from this but it is a nice and cheap way to have a little bit more than a mp3 player and some candles when you´re outside...
LED's have developed over the last years. When the first ones were energy efficient but with low light output, LED's now range up to 2000W with light output ranging to 500.000lm and more and this even with RGB so this is the source to choose for lightning in every segment. COB LED's get smaller and smaller and the output gets higher and higher. A side effect is that there is not much heat produced. In the same relation the efficiency rises, the prices still keep dropping. More and more applications are invented and so it did not really surprise me that some companies tried to invent holographic uses with LED's. Well, maybe this will be a nice thing in future but by now it is far away from what you may expect from a Star Trek Holodeck. It´s still like comparing the first humans making fire with today´s rocket science. The first steps are made, but it´s a long way to go.
On the other hand there is a sector that clearly has a profit in the development of LED's. Big screens have become much better then last time. So they presented a screen for outdoor use with 144 m2 and a very clear and sharp picture of 16k/m2 resolution that even had no problem when the sun was shining directly on to the surface. Well, this is not meant to be used in private as TV because when you want to do so, you first have to place the TV and build the house around it. But I think, that it would be quiet impressive...
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