CCT Lighting showed its new LED strip aluminium bar, aimed at the architectural market, available in any length or shape with a variety of beam angles. An added advantage is that additional instruments can be hung on it as well.

The latest console from Zero 88's Frog range; Frog 2, previewed this year. This is a big step forward for Zero 88 and will be its flagship control product. Zero was also gathering feedback before heading back to the design table to fine-tune Frog 2 before its future launch.

5 Star Systems from Holland featured products from a new intelligent lighting manufacturer in Budapest, including a 250W wash fixture. Also showing was a prototype 38-LED moving light, using 3W blue and green LEDs and 1W reds.

Taiwanese company Acme Effects launched the iSoloution range of lighting products in association with UK partner Pro Light Concepts. With no Western backing, the company has worked hard to ensure its products are distributed worldwide.

Alongside its ranges of control options, coloured fluorescent tube specialists Anytronics were showing new additions to the outstation options for its Anylight systems, the new DP804 dimming pack and its enhanced range of T5 fluorescent fixtures.

Swedish company Beacon AB was showing its comprehensive gobo catalogue with over 350 new gobo designs. Still attracting strong interest was its Blackline range of gobos launched at PL

Coolux presented the LED Kachel, a backlight solution to space problems. Based on a tiny single-chip RGB high intensity LED, it comes in two forms - 20sq.cm (16 LEDs) and 10sq.cm (9 LEDs). It offers three channels of DMX, individual address to each square, soft patch and daisy chain connection. Also from Coolux, and reported previously in L&SI, Pandora's Box is a media server with nine layers of control.

The A.C. Lighting stand saw two key products launched. The Jands Vista lighting console (shown last year as a prototype) was demoed extensively this year and a number of sales made. Also launched was the Chroma-Q DB4 Colour Block: using technology licensed from Color Kinetics, this modular LED fixture can be arrayed in various configurations. Also new, was the Chroma-Q 4Play self-healing, four-way DMX buffer.

With there being so much LED-based lighting in the show this year, it was good to see a change in the shape of Par Opti Projects' fibre optic products. An eye-catching London skyline scene was a good reminder that fibre optic is inherently safe, looks effective and is straightforward to use for non-technicians.

New from ShowCAD was Automaton, a low-cost show controller which can be programmed via a web browser and will replay programmed shows without the 'host' computer. The latest updates to the flagship Artist control system were also being discussed, including a Microsoft Powerpoint interface and the implementation of WYSIWYG protocol.

OPTI was highlighting recent additions to its famous Optikinetics range including DMX versions of the GoBoShow and GoBoPro and the X-Y mirror attachment for these projectors. Also new were the 50mm Effect Cassette, 6" Effect Wheel titles and an improved Clock Attachment for use on all OPTI projectors.

Lee Filters revealed eight new colours in its Designer gel series, while its new fluorescent sleeves enable users to chose any colour from the Lee range, which is then cut to size, inserted into a clear sleeve and delivered ready for use. It's also available for self-assembly, with pre-cut rolls of colour supplied with the polycarbonate sleeving.

The featured product on the White Light stand was the new Digital Festoon System (see Awards for Innovation, pages 44-48). Having recently taken on the UK distribution of ELC Lighting products, a key new item was the dmXLAN system, which allows lighting designers to utilize the ArtNet protocol by converting DMX to Ethernet and back. ELC's range of other DMX tools was also attracting interest.

Enjoying its first visit to PLASA since changing management, image and name was Australian company State Automation, who used to be Bytecraft Automation. They are due to launch new lighting control products in the future and was showing its Sinewave dimmers.

Michael Strathmann from Rainbow Colour Changers said the company was having a good show and an extremely successful year with its scrollers. Future plans include increased flexibility with a lot of customized work in the pipeline.

Show Designer, Martin Professional's light show visualization and programming software, now offers much faster 3D rendering. Also from Martin, Stage Cyclo is a four-tube architectural fluorescent flood beefed up to make it robust enough for touring. A new set of Gobos for the MAC 2000 has been designed by Patrick Woodroffe. The Maxedia media server can run up to 20 layers simultaneously, while the new Maxxyz Wings are add-ons for the main Maxxyz lighting control desk. Good idea this: several different wing modules, all with the same construction, just different face plates. Rental houses will be able to mix and match wings to suit jobs, much as audio people have been doing for years. Martin also introduced several new lamps for the club market.

USA - In a spirited production of Capt. Murray Ross' adaptation of Treasure Island, the theatre department of the University of Colorado in Colorado Springs (UCCS) is delighting ticket holders with an exciting evening filled with swashbuckling pirates, tales of treasure and an engaging cast. For lighting designer James 'Japhy' Weideman, traditional fixtures were an option, but he opted instead to take up Wybron's offer of testing six of their Nexera washlights.

According to Japhy: "In the beginning of my design process, I needed to make a few positioning adjustments in order to accommodate some changes in scenery height. At first, I was reluctant to move them, not knowing how long it would take. However, the Nexeras were easy to re-position due to their compact and lightweight structure. A lighting designer should think of them simply as conventional lights with won

Flexibility is the key aspect of e:cue products. The company describes itself as "providing simple solutions for complex scenarios," and is currently looking for a UK distributor for its range of lighting controllers (see feature in L&SI October 2004, pages 81-83).

A new name in the lighting control scene, Chamsys had a wide range of products from desks to DMX buffers on display. The blood red MagicQ MQ200 lighting console was the star of the ChamSys stand, providing six universes, 202 playbacks and 3072 channels in a package designed for simple programming and busking.

LDDE showed its range of creative lighting control solutions for architectural and entertainment applications, with a full selection of options for controlling anything from 10 devices up to 16,000! The e:note is specially designed for architectural use, working on one DMX universe with the ability to store up to 12 'shows', and controlled via timer, keypad or remote.

Hundreds of lamps are distributed by MGC. New this year was the Philips Broadway Gold - part of the double-ended MSR Gold range, complete with gold base and utilizing four new lamp technologies including P3 pinch protection for operation at up to 2500ºC! Also new was a full range of Luxeon LEDs, and the Cariboni range of architectural floodlights.

Pride of place on the Artistic Licence stand was Jump Start, the all-singing, all-dancing remote device management (RDM) tool that uses the new RDM DMX protocol. For want of a better description, this hand-held device could take the place of a lighting desk. It's also backwards compatible with 'old' DMX. With this and other products attracting attention, Artistic reported that this was their best PLASA show ever.

Pro Light Concepts, supplier of mobile disco equipment, was hosting a busy stand. The company's Mark Walsh was enthusiastic about the show and pleased to be supporting long-time Taiwanese associates Acme Effects, who he described as "a great team to work with".

Cerebrum, the UK distributor for Japanese manufacturer San-Ei, was promoting the latter's range of highly engineered Xenon followspots, ranging between 1 and 4kW. Despite their size, these are flexible and easy to handle, and are constructed to last at least 25 years!

Ginger and Alex are the new tungsten followspots from Robert Juliat. Featuring mechanical dimmers for constant colour temperature and a high performance double condenser optical system. Ginger has a 15.5-27° zoom whilst Alex has a 7-14.5° zoom.

Lighting Innovation showed its latest SuperBeam beam light, with 1.2K/80V tungsten lightsource, which doubles the output of the classic beam light. The lamp also lasts three times as long as a traditional beam light source and contains two mirrors to optimize the output and direct the beam between 3-12°.

A stunning four-minute laser show featuring 24 pre-programmed lasers was a highlight of the Spectrum (UK) Lasers stand. Nigel Williams said the company was the first to introduce affordable three-colour lasers that offer yellow. Spectrum is the exclusive distributor of Actor Mate products from Taiwan.

Latest Issue. . .