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ActiveBeam DMX addressing and configuration

ActiveBeam luminaires adjust their beam angle electronically, so their DMX channel count depends on how you configure them. This article explains how ActiveBeam pixels and beam zones use DMX channels…

ActiveBeam luminaires adjust their beam angle electronically, so their DMX channel count depends on how you configure them. This article explains how ActiveBeam pixels and beam zones use DMX channels, and how to choose the four QuickPlay Pro 2 (QPP2) settings that determine your DMX channel count.

How ActiveBeam uses DMX

Each ActiveBeam pixel has three beam zones: center, middle, and outer. Each zone has its own RGBAW LEDs. BlastElite ActiveBeam has one pixel. Graze Elite ActiveBeam has one pixel per foot, so the 1, 2, 3, and 4 ft luminaires have 1, 2, 3, and 4 pixels.

This article uses two terms:

  • Physical pixel. One set of three beam zones in the luminaire.
  • Controllable pixel. A group of one or more physical pixels that share one set of DMX channels. Each controllable pixel has its own color channels.

You commission ActiveBeam luminaires with QPP2, much like their standard counterparts. The differences are the Pixel Cell Count setting and the new Beam Mode setting.

Configuration settings

Four settings, all configured in QPP2 during commissioning, determine the DMX channel count.

Setting What it sets Options
Input Mode How you send color to the luminaire. Output is always RGBAW. 1 Ch Intensity, 3-Ch In/N-Ch Out + Chromasync, N-Ch In/Out
Input Resolution How many bits each color or intensity parameter uses 8-bit, 16-bit
Pixel Cell Count How many physical pixels form one controllable pixel 1, 2, 3, 4
Beam Mode How you control the beam angle or the beam zones Static, Dynamic, Media

BlastElite ActiveBeam does not show the Pixel Cell Count setting because it has only one physical pixel.

Input Mode and Input Resolution

These two settings work as they do on standard luminaires.

Input Mode Parameters per controllable pixel Input colors
1 Ch Intensity 1 (intensity) RGBAW color set once in QPP2
3-Ch In/N-Ch Out + Chromasync 3 RGB
N-Ch In/Out 5 RGBAW
Input Resolution DMX channels per parameter
8-bit 1
16-bit 2 (most significant byte first, then least significant byte)

Pixel Cell Count

Pixel Cell Count groups physical pixels into controllable pixels. Each controllable pixel adds its own set of DMX channels, so a higher count means fewer controllable pixels and a lower DMX channel count. BlastElite ActiveBeam always has one controllable pixel.

Pixel Cell Count Graze Elite ActiveBeam 1 ft 2 ft 3 ft 4 ft
1 1 2 3 4
2 Not available 1 2* 2
3 Not available Not available 1 2*
4 Not available Not available Not available 1

Values are controllable pixels. *These controllable pixels contain an uneven number of physical pixels. For example, a 4 ft luminaire with a Pixel Cell Count of 3 has a first controllable pixel with three physical pixels and a second with one.

Beam Mode

Beam Mode sets how you control the beam angle or the beam zones.

Beam Mode What it does Effect on DMX channel count
Static Holds a beam angle that you set once in QPP2 for the whole luminaire. Otherwise the luminaire behaves like a standard BlastElite or Graze Elite. None
Dynamic Lets you change the beam angle of every controllable pixel from your control system. Adds one 8-bit beam angle channel to each controllable pixel
Media Ignores the beam angle and gives you direct control of the center, middle, and outer zones. Triples the color channels of each controllable pixel. There is no beam angle channel.

Static. Enter a beam control value from 0 (narrow) to 255 (wide) in QPP2. Each controllable pixel has one set of color channels, and the luminaire calculates the zone intensities that deliver the beam angle.

Dynamic. One set of color channels exists for each controllable pixel, and the luminaire calculates the zone intensities that deliver the beam angle you send. The beam angle channel follows that pixel’s color channels. When the luminaire has more than one controllable pixel, the beam angle channels are interspersed among the DMX channels.

Media. Each controllable pixel has three sets of color channels, one each for the center, middle, and outer zones, in that order. You mix the zones yourself.

Beam Mode is a configuration setting, not a DMX control. To change it, reconfigure the luminaire in QPP2. You cannot change it from your control system while the luminaire is running.

Beam angle to DMX value

The Static value and the Dynamic beam angle channel use the same scale. The relationship between DMX value and beam angle is not linear.

Beam angle DMX value
12° 0
20° 92
30° 124
40° 204
50° 225
60° 255

Calculate your DMX channel count

  1. Find the number of controllable pixels. For BlastElite ActiveBeam, it is always 1. For Graze Elite ActiveBeam, use the Pixel Cell Count table.
  2. Find the channels in one color set: the parameters for your Input Mode multiplied by the channels per parameter for your Input Resolution.
  3. Apply your Beam Mode:
Beam Mode Channels per controllable pixel
Static One color set
Dynamic One color set + 1
Media Three color sets
  1. Multiply by the number of controllable pixels.

Channels per controllable pixel for each combination:

Input Mode Resolution Static Dynamic Media
1 Ch Intensity 8-bit 1 2 3
1 Ch Intensity 16-bit 2 3 6
3-Ch In/N-Ch Out + Chromasync 8-bit 3 4 9
3-Ch In/N-Ch Out + Chromasync 16-bit 6 7 18
N-Ch In/Out 8-bit 5 6 15
N-Ch In/Out 16-bit 10 11 30

Examples

These examples use a Graze Elite ActiveBeam 2 ft luminaire, which has two physical pixels.

Example 1: 3-Ch In/N-Ch Out + Chromasync, 8-bit, Pixel Cell Count 1

Each physical pixel is a controllable pixel, so there are two controllable pixels.

Channel Static Dynamic Media
1 Pixel 1 Red Pixel 1 Red Pixel 1 Center Red
2 Pixel 1 Green Pixel 1 Green Pixel 1 Center Green
3 Pixel 1 Blue Pixel 1 Blue Pixel 1 Center Blue
4 Pixel 2 Red Pixel 1 Beam Angle Pixel 1 Middle Red
5 Pixel 2 Green Pixel 2 Red Pixel 1 Middle Green
6 Pixel 2 Blue Pixel 2 Green Pixel 1 Middle Blue
7 Pixel 2 Blue Pixel 1 Outer Red
8 Pixel 2 Beam Angle Pixel 1 Outer Green
9 Pixel 1 Outer Blue
10 Pixel 2 Center Red
11 Pixel 2 Center Green
12 Pixel 2 Center Blue
13 Pixel 2 Middle Red
14 Pixel 2 Middle Green
15 Pixel 2 Middle Blue
16 Pixel 2 Outer Red
17 Pixel 2 Outer Green
18 Pixel 2 Outer Blue

The luminaire uses 6 DMX channels in Static mode, 8 in Dynamic mode, and 18 in Media mode.

Example 2: N-Ch In/Out, 8-bit, Pixel Cell Count 2

Both physical pixels are grouped into one controllable pixel.

Channel Static Dynamic Media
1 Red Red Center Red
2 Green Green Center Green
3 Blue Blue Center Blue
4 Amber Amber Center Amber
5 White White Center White
6 Beam Angle Middle Red
7 Middle Green
8 Middle Blue
9 Middle Amber
10 Middle White
11 Outer Red
12 Outer Green
13 Outer Blue
14 Outer Amber
15 Outer White

The luminaire uses 5 DMX channels in Static mode, 6 in Dynamic mode, and 15 in Media mode.

Example 3: 3-Ch In/N-Ch Out + Chromasync, 16-bit, Pixel Cell Count 2, Dynamic mode

Both physical pixels are grouped into one controllable pixel. Each color uses two channels, and the beam angle uses one 8-bit channel.

Channel Function
1 Red, most significant byte
2 Red, least significant byte
3 Green, most significant byte
4 Green, least significant byte
5 Blue, most significant byte
6 Blue, least significant byte
7 Beam Angle

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