Control Channels for Color Kinetics Luminaires

Controlling LED luminaires

Uniquely addressing and controlling color-changing LED luminaires lets you display different light output — different colors and different brightnesses — on multiple luminaires simultaneously. This level of control enables an infinite variety and combination of dynamic effects, from colors that fade one into another or that seem to chase each other from luminaire to luminaire, to intricate light shows that mimic the appearance of natural phenomena or that display abstract patterns for subtle or dramatic effect.

To do this each luminaire in an installation is assigned an address, or a set of unique addresses. These addresses allow a controller to identify individual luminaires within the installation and send the luminaires specific control signals so that each luminaire can display the correct light output.

Most color-changing LED luminaires have four channels, one for each color of LED used in the luminaire — usually red, green, blue, and white. Each luminaire receives four separate channels of data from the controller, one for the red LEDs, one for the green, one for the blue, and one for the white. The first luminaire in an installation is often programmed to receive data via addresses 1, 2, 3, and 4; the second could be programmed to receive data via addresses 5 6, 7, and 8; and so on.

DMX Systems

DMX-based controllers communicate with LED luminaires using DMX addresses.

DMX supports a maximum of 512 DMX addresses per universe. A single DMX universe consists of a maximum of 128 uniquely addressed four-channel luminaires (512 divided by 4 = 128) or three-channel luminaires (512 divided by 3 = 170, with two channels left over). An installation can consist of one or more DMX universes. DMX is appropriate for installations with a few hundred addresses.

Ethernet Systems

Since LED luminaires are inherently digital, entire lighting systems can be run on Ethernet networks. Ethernet-based systems do not have the same addressing limitations as DMX, and so are preferable for larger installations. Ethernet control is effectively required for large-scale video installations, where thousands, or tens of thousands of luminaires must be addressed and controlled.

Direct-view LED luminaires designed specifically for displaying video sometimes contain multiple individually controllable segments, or nodes. Some Ethernet controllers can control tens of thousands of unique LED nodes, each with 4 channels.

Luminaire, Node, or Segment?

Often each luminaire represents a single node, regardless of the number of LEDs the luminaire may contain, so, with luminaires such as Blast IntelliHue Powercore or Burst IntelliHue Powercore the whole luminaire is controlled with 4 channels.

The physical size of nodes can vary as well, with single node luminaires as small as a 19 mm (0.75 in) round with a single red, green, and blue LED receiving data via three addresses, or as large as 221 x 648 mm (8.7 x 25.5 in) rectangle with hundreds of red, green, blue, and white LEDs controlled by four addresses.

Strands of LED nodes consist of individually controllable nodes connected in a series by a flexible cable with 3 or 4 channels controlling each node.

Linear luminaires are designed with a series of nodes across their length that produce consistent illumination in whatever application they are used ie: direct view, grazing or washing. These nodes are factory-set at their smallest size which depending on luminaire family can be anywhere from 19 mm (0.75 in) up to 305 mm (12 in). A single 4 ft Accent Compact, RGBW luminaire comes with 64 nodes with 256 channels, whereas a 4 ft Graze IntelliHue Powercore luminaire has 4 nodes and uses 16 channels.

Going bigger = fewer addresses

Configuring luminaires, nodes, or segments with the same addresses will have them play identical content.

Certain Color Kinetics luminaires are configurable as either 8-bit or 16-bit. Luminaires configured for 16-bit mode use twice the DMX addresses compared to 8-bit fixtures.

Color Kinetics is committed to delivering end-to-end systems—advanced and seamlessly integrated luminaires, power supplies, and controls. Read more about why Control Matters.