How to Choose the Right Controller

Matching the right control solution to your project requires a clear vision of the kind of content you’ll be using—and what effect you desire. In general, choosing the right controller for your project depends on three main factors: 

1. Scale of the lighting system.

Does your design include hundreds, thousands, or hundreds of thousands of light points? Knowing the scale helps determine whether you should build a DMX-based system (100s of light points), or a KiNET-based (Ethernet) system, which can scale up to hundreds of thousands of light points. 

2. Scale of the Pre-Programmed Content.

Do you want to have the ability to run a single show (iColorPlayer), a few shows (ColorDial Pro), or hundreds of shows (iPlayer 3, Light System Manager, iPlayer 4)?

3. Scale of the Integration or Interactivity.

It’s important to gauge how simple or complex integration will be—as well as the desired level of interactivity. 

• Do you want to have local integration using I/O modules? 
  Solution: iPlayer 3.
• Do you want to have local integration with keypads and mobile apps?
  Solution: iPlayer 4.
• Do you want to have remote triggering capabilities over the internet?  
  Solution: iPlayer 4.
• Do you want the ability to build mobile applications using API integration? 
  Solution: iPlayer 4 with Interact Landmark and Interact API. 

Download the Color Kinetics Product Guide for an overview of all controller options.

While these three criteria serve as a general guide, Color Kinetics System Experts are available to help you determine what controller is best suited for your project.

Read more about why Control Matters.