It is the new revolution of the season, a Martin moving head, a true spot with a blessed 1000 W discharge lamp, gobos, CMY color, zoom and functions like the good old days of this breed of projectors that we believed to be extinct. It has a rock star name and the stature of a workhorse; it is a deadly viper and a legion of 5000 units has already marched out of the factories. It’s all here and, more than anything else, it represents a resurrection.

Mac. Three letters, the symbol of an entertainment industry so young and so rushed that it disowns its products at each evolution. Many of these moving heads have been produced by the Martin company, acclaimed for their products but denigrated over the years by the battering of fierce competition in a marketplace that is ultimately so tiny and so volatile. And yet the MAC600, MAC2000, MACIII, MAC700 and others remain, in their own ways, universal symbols. Symbols of democratization, dreams of accessibility for generations of lighting designers, despite their faults. Technology does not always focus on the purity of a beam, and this is unfortunate. And then, one morning, Martin’s engineers redesigned show lighting, the accuracy needed to illuminate actors, costumes and sets, the delicacy of a beam landing on a dancer, the purity of colors playing with a band, the power of an explosion of light at the grand finale. That’s when the Viper project was born. In spite of its garish name, this spot is probably the best product to come out of Martin to date. And Viper will undoubtedly also become a new symbol, and rightly so.

Handling and ergonomics

It sits proudly on its base, and so do I, as some old pains were awakened on that rainy day by transporting it from the car of Jérôme Garnier, technical director of Martin France (whom, by the way, I wish to thank for his availability). It weighs quite a bit… 37.2 kg precisely. Although this is 15 less than its big brother, the Mac III, from which it inherits certain features. Among these features are the second pair of handgrips, located above the arms of the yoke, that are very useful for moving it. However, the era of big and stocky seems to be coming to an end, as the competition presents machines with equivalent outputs in very small chassis and very light materials. I would not like for Martin to stop using a robust and durable construction, but I would not want to hang this fixture from a truss by myself.

Advertising

The enormous vents on the head require the replacement of air filters, the foam inserts behind the grilles, in the case of excessive dust entry.

So, I take a look at it: a squat base, angular arms and a massive head that is pointed like a missile. The Marketing department gave it the name that could be an action movie title and the designers dressed it up in high-tech armor. Enormous air vents scar its cheeks and the slightly grainy, flat black paint make its skin seem to be granite. This is as impressive as it is disquieting. Like a custom car, it gives the impression of playing one-upmanship.

I look again. The lens of the optical group is remarkable: a large, delicately polished diamond. This can produce a superb output beam.

The construction is solid, the workmanship excellent, the weight a guarantee of quality. The handles, though they are not the most comfortable, allow easy handling in all circumstances, though always with four arms. A single lock on the tilt facilitates servicing and stowing in the flight case.

I finally give up on the pan lock – a useless and irritating device – when the damned latch refuses to budge.
Under the base, eight 1/4-turn, threaded sockets for omega brackets are arranged in a hexagon. Parallel, perpendicular or at 45° to the base, there are plenty of options for the brackets: this is good. An arrow designates the “front” of the fixture, strangely located on the side with the cable connections.You will have to choose between respecting the direction of suspension and discretion of cabling.

Attachment of the safety cable is also carried out from below, in a dedicated recess that is too small: this is not so good. Particularly negative is the fact that the very thin feet will allow the Viper to sink to the floor if you deploy it standing on the ground, forcing you to unhook the safety cable to keep it from wobbling.

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The front of the base with PowerCon, XLR5 and USB sockets.

Proceeding to the base, we find a bare black slab which hosts a PowerCon connector for the power supply, two genuine male and female DMX sockets, the display, a button, an encoder knob, a status indicator and a USB interface for updates.
Everything is accessible, I do not ask questions. I go to the menu and take out the very impressive manual: two extremely detailed volumes in French, 66 pages long, with diagrams and photos in support.
All I have to do now is follow the recipe. The navigation is extremely simple. You press the knob to enter the menu, you rotate it to scroll to the correct functions, a second press enters editing, another turn of the knob changes values, and a last press confirms your choices.

The shortcut menu.

In case of error, or to go back one level of menu, there is an “escape” key. This menu functions on battery power, the “escape” key, in this case, activates the display with the power off.

Shortcuts are implemented in a special menu, which is accessed by holding down the indispensable “escape” button for more than two seconds. The display proposes three selections: a general reset, a lamp On/Off and rotation of the display orientation. I appreciate the simplicity.
The status LED provides continuous information on the “health” of the unit. Green: don’t worry; amber for warnings, red for an error. If, in addition, the LED is flashing, this indicates that a DMX signal is not present.

Menu and Service

I hold the knob down a little long and the menu displays the most useful information for me. Pleasant surprise.

What I expect from an info menu, no more and no less.

The Viper menus. You will not get lost.

I click the knob and it passes to the various menus. The most common are grouped in the “MAIN” section. DMX address, control mode selection between basic and extended, fixture ID (of which interest is limited to the management of a single fleet, a kind of serial number), reverse pan/tilt, movement and effects speed (choose SLOW in order to be precise in long-throw applications), lamp striking control, lamp off and reset from the console, and restore the factory default settings. Known by heart to all Martin users. I focus on a few, more specific functions.

The square dimmer curve setting ensures fine control at the low end of the range

The S curve successfully simulates the dimming of a halogen lamp.

There are four selectable dimmer curves. The linear curve provides linear variation proportional to DMX values and, therefore, overly mechanical results. The “square law” curve allows a finer adjustment at the lowest levels, the “inverse square law” allows more at the highest and, finally, the S-curve (VRMS) – the default mode of the unit – simulates halogen dimming as closely as possible.

The Viper has been equipped with a welcome autofocus feature. If the coupling zoom/focus were guaranteed over the entire projection distance, there would probably not be a selection to deactivate this in the menu. But the autofocus only works on one of the three following areas, configured using the console: from 5 to 10 m, between 10 and 20 m, and from 20 m to infinity.

A true milestone introduced by Martin, the famous animation wheel, undergoes a significant change, probably for reasons of space. Installed on the fixed gobo wheel, it occupies more than half of it. To (further?) restrict its use, the parameter “Gobo 3 FX range” limits the movement of this combined wheel only to gobos or to a part of the animation.

The “effect shortcut” allows you to avoid passages through the open position of the gobo and color wheels.

The display can be oriented in any direction, or can be left to rotate automatically.
The “Information” menu reveals the operating time, number of lamp strikes, software version, fan speed, temperature and unique RDM ID.
A DMX tester is included, accessible from the “DMX Live” menu. In addition to the numerical values received by each parameter, the quality, the refresh rate and the header (the code that tells automated fixtures that the received signal is DMX512 lighting management) of the DMX signal are analyzed.
Finally, the “Test” and “Manual Control” menus complete the user functions.

For qualified service centers, other settings are available in the “Service” menu. Authorized or unskilled users can disable, adjust or calibrate various settings. Updating the software is possible via a USB flash drive or using a Martin interface and a technician trained in the procedure.

Even before powering up the unit, I have the impression of having a fine vintage in front of me. Materials, finish, ergonomics, menu, nothing was left to chance. It possesses features, inherited from 15 years of Danish development, which may annoy some, but it can be completely configured intuitively and quickly. Its mouth alone will allow it to invade the scene and, apart from its slightly excess weight, technicians will be delighted.

I configure the Viper in extended mode, with normal speeds, the dimmer in S-curve, the autofocus engaged and with the animation and effects wheel limiting disabled.

It is RDM compatible. This protocol allows bidirectional exchange of information or commands through the DMX cables with many fixtures developed in the last three years. Investing in a tester or RDM compatible console, the majority of the settings can be done by a single person sitting down, warm and with a cup of coffee . Otherwise, invest in a comfortable harness.

Martin France has left nothing to chance. In addition to supplying the Viper, Jérôme Garnier accompanies me throughout the startup and provides me with the libraries suited to my console. This saves me valuable time.
I turn on the power switch. I was expecting a slightly long start-up. 82 seconds, it’s reasonable. Somewhat surprising are the first twenty seconds during which nothing seems to happen; presumably the time it takes to wake up all the processors. I strike the lamp. A quirk that I attribute to my test unit, I lose the pan and tilt control for the long ten seconds it takes to finish the lighting of the lamp.
Finally at full power, I start the measurements and …

Tests and output measurements

The very moment I power on the Viper, my eyes meet the stars: an impressive luminous power with the purity of ice. My eyes are not sufficient, so I’ll let the numbers from the photometer and optical calculations do the talking.

Tight beam

Illumination measurements on 2 axes at 5 meters for the tight beam

Flux measurement for the tight beam

Illumination curve, tight beam.

The tight beam, an aperture of 9.5°, measures 54,500 lux at the center, with a very discreet hot spot. Therefore (I’ll spare the tedious calculations), 26,500 lumens of luminous flux.

Wide beam

Illumination measurement on 2 axes at 5 meters for the wide beam.

Illumination curve for the wide beam

At minimum zoom, I multiply the beam aperture by five to achieve a reasonable 44.6°. The light source opens up with exquisite precision, allowing the unit the luxury of providing an almost perfect uniformity of luminous flux over the entire zoom range, to achieve 25,200 lumens.

20° angle

Illumination measurements on 2 axes at 5 meters, for a 20° angle.

Illumination curve for a 20° angle.

With the red collar, the furtive smoothing filter.

To give some context for comparison, the Viper reaches light levels normally reserved for the 1500 W “caste”. The only downside to this avalanche of photons, which I also attribute to my test unit, is a slight pumping effect of the lamp. Honestly this is nothing discernible to the eye, it would undoubtedly go unnoticed without our light meter.

Be careful though, fellow console operators, there is an additional parameter for smoothing the beam hidden in values from 135 to 139 on the Control channel (set it to 140-144 to disable this), the effect of which, however, deprives you of 12% of the luminous flux at the output.

Movement, thermal and noise limits

The Viper is massive, buttressed by its muscular arms. The pan and tilt movements don’t suffer because of this. Like a heavyweight boxer, it moves quickly with great fluidity. In normal mode, it will make a full turn on itself in 2.7 seconds. It will reverse its head in tilt in 1.7 seconds. In “Fast” mode it gains 0.2 seconds per turn. It has a 540° pan range, a turn and a half, and a 268° tilt range (this is accurate), allowing all current sequences. I once again appeal to the excuse of this being a demo unit – the very first series submitted to the ferocity of relentless testing by future users – in reporting a very noticeable growl at the start and stop of movements on the pan axis.

The movements of the optical group are impressive. The uppercut of the zoom opens in 0.5 seconds. The jab of the iris slams in less than 0.2 seconds This fighter doesn’t pull any punches on calls for gobos or colors, either. Ferocity has a price, for it heats up somewhat: 40° C ambient temperature up to 150° C at the hottest point behind the lamp. The mechanical parts sing sweetly: +7 dB with respect to ambient noise when in standby, it grumbles at +18 dB when we use all the motors continuously (measurements taken at 1 m from the unit).

In the case of a KO (or, more appropriately, a TKO), a hard reset will get it back in the ring in 1 minute and 20 seconds. Allow ten seconds more to re-strike the lamp, it will not do it automatically.

Impressions and performance

Dimmer

Mac Viper Profile. The blades of the dimmer. Smile, it's Halloween.

The dimming is done mechanically via the closure of two “crocodile teeth” blades, also known as a jack-‘o-lantern smile, obviously located at the extreme of the focal plane.
This gives a very uniform variation of the output regardless of the selected dimmer curve. However, in the first 3% of the dimmer, a focus that is a little out will show a slight dithering, like a cheese grater.

The dimmer shares the same mechanism as the strobe, which is also highly precise There is no bluffing on its setting, nothing but essentially a fixed or random strobe from 1 to 20 Hz, which engages like lightning.

To preserve the lamp and its components, the Viper reduces the lamp power from 1000 W to 800 W when the shutter closes for over 10 seconds. As soon as it reopens, full power is restored.

Colors

Colors have always been, for me, one of Martin’s weaknesses. A little gaudy or too pastel. But now, a real optical group, an exceptional light source and a re-evaluation of the washes of color put me quickly back in my place. There is no iridescence, the selection is wonderful and the colors are bright: I have the impression of holding a painter’s palette.

The beautiful deep magenta.

The cyan, like moonlight.

Finally, the yellow !

The magenta provides a covering of a beautiful dark lilac, very “musical theater” but intense in luminosity, similar to the Lee Filter 797, the famous Deep Purple.
The cyan is azure blue, slightly turquoise, closer to Lee 132 Medium Blue.
The yellow abandons its canary hue and passes to chick, less green, more amber – very bright too, leaving 80% of the luminous flux intact. The Yellow L010, Lee Filter, comes close enough.

Its three base colors prove themselves to be in perfect balance, allowing sensible mixtures with no inappropriate shading.

Red like madder root.

An electrifying green.

The cobalt blue of Congo.

Half-red applied. I swear to you, Instagram (the photo application for iPhone) has not seen this photo!

Thus, mixing magenta and yellow provides a blazing red, close to a Lee 029 filter.
Le vert perroquet est éclatant, copie du Twickenham Green Lee 736.
The parrot green is bright, a copy of the Lee 736, Twickenham Green.

In addition to this, there is the traditional CTO wheel, warming the light to the 3200 K of halogen lamps, which you will also be using appropriately to adjust certain ambers and other pastels. In any case, I recommend it, as the optics permit all kinds of mixtures with no iridescence or chromatic aberrations.

Saturation lovers and image professionals will find the fixed color wheel to be a rainbow of happiness. Pure primaries (blue, green, red), bright secondaries (orange, magenta), a real congo and two essential correctors: a CTB to push the native 6000 K temperature of the lamp towards 7200 K, and a half-minus-green for certain video applications. After sampling these colors, too, you will soon succumb to half-colors, if only for the guilty pleasure of admiring the gradients you can obtain.

Gobos and animation

The most delicate point, undoubtedly the most subjective, is the choice of the gobos and animation effects. Therefore, based on my my tastes, I praise in particular the former and criticize the latter. With such an optic group, the smallest of flaws jumps out at you, as does the best of achievements.

The two rotating gobo wheels offer five each of two types of gobos: breakup and aerial. The first are a mix of the essential – “dots in Space”, “crystal” – and original – “happy”(swirls), “brick it” and “big bones” – while the latter take on a tremendous magnitude through smoke: “Bite it” (kaleidoscope), “sonar”, “symmetrical leggings” and another bearing the sweet name “Too Many Doctors”, which defies description. This renewed image selection brings an incredible visual comfort, high fashion scenic dressing bordering on demented vortex.

Let’s turn now to the things that are irritating (to me). The last wheel combines four fixed gobos and a section of the famous Martin animation wheel. Okay, these four gobos allow the creation of some often surprising and interesting combinations when used in association with the other wheels and the prism. I’ll also let you judge my own concoctions in the following gallery; this is better than superfluous descriptions.

What a shame to have so crippled the animation wheel, no doubt for lack of space in the new ultra-compact body. This famous disc, streaked with scholarly manner, revolved endlessly around its axis. This perpetual sweeping, coupled with other gobos and refined through a good choice of focus, gave free rein to our imagination. Like demigods, we raised squadrons of clouds, setting fire to the walls, swelling the slightest ripple into a marine cataclysm. With a bit of time before us, we explored every nook and cranny of this effect like Méliès. All gone, together with this ill-fated effect section; this is the end of our divine visions, the infinite movement is no more. We have passed from roaring waves to windshield-wipers in the mist, from vengeful flamethrower to sputtering cigarette lighter. And the effort of Martin to provide several preset animation functions (metronome, interference, back-and-forth, etc.) on the channel of the FX Wheel reinforces our disappointment.

Fortunately there is the prism. A well balanced, transparent beam multiplier (x4), it magically multiplies any gobo like flowers in spring. It does this with soft and precise rotation speeds, this is arguably the best prism I’ve encountered.

The iris also stands out for its quality. Consisting of 16 blades, it is extremely fast. At its minimum, it cuts into the beam an edge of less than 3°. Embracing simplicity, the parameter of the iris is dedicated exclusively to its aperture, without pulse or other effects.

Focus and zoom

The optics are the real masterpiece of the Viper. The 5X zoom moves from 9° to 43° with a perfect linearity. The very precise focus provides perfect sharpness, even at the widest aperture. The extremely wide focal range allows you to stroll down to the blades of the dimmer and then to calmly go back up beyond the iris. Morphing between gobos becomes a piece of cake.

This time around, Martin tries its hand at autofocus. First, you must select a distance range via the appropriate parameter in the control channel (5 to 10 m, 10 to 20 m, and 20 m to infinity) then perform the focus. It is comfortable (if a bit long when you’re working fast with your console!) with rotating gobos, but fixed gobos or irises still require adjustments depending on the selected zoom. It’s no major revolution, but it is a step in the right direction for the Danish manufacturer.

I conclude with the frost filter. It is truly progressive, it does not at all give the impression of emerging suddenly in the output of the beam. Though it really lacks the diffusion to transform your spot into a wash (for that you should purchase the Viper Wash or BeamFX, or…), it maintains plenty of luminous flux and provides you with lovely edges. It’s certainly not enough to substitute an array of Fresnels, but it could save face.

Under the hood

The construction follows Martin standards. The head covers can be removed by taking out two Torx 25 retaining screws, the safety wires will then hold them on with their quick-release retainer clips, until these are unscrewed.

The architecture is actually very simple, with a light box accommodating the famous Osram HTI 1000/PS – 6000K, with a CRI above 85 and a nominal service life of 750 h. It is installed using the famous fast-fit process, it locks with ¼ turn at the back of the unit, once a single Torx 20 screw is removed.

Inside view of Mac Viper Profile.

The two large fans and nozzles for cooling the lamp.

Two superb, large nozzles (bright yellow) provide direct cooling of the lamp at the heart of the lightbox. A thermal filter protects the internal components from the heat.

The main functions are then contained in two modules. The first of these, removable by detaching 3 connectors and removing two Torx 20 screws, manages the dimmer and strobe functions using two serrated blades. The beam is then passed through the CTO and CMY color mixing flags. Then, on to the smoothing filter.

The projection module.

The second module manages projections. This can be removed from the head by unscrewing two Torx 20, detaching two connectors and sliding the zoom mechanism forward and out of the way. The beam passes through the color wheel. The filters on the color wheel are simply clipped in. The metal, fixed gobo and animation wheel comes next, followed by the breakup and aerial gobo wheels. The gobo holders are clipped to their wheel, while the gobos themselves are held by a spring (except the glass gobos, which are glued). The animation wheel may be changed by taking it off of its hub. The iris mechanism completes the second module.

The fuses.

All the connectors of the modules are labeled on the circuit board and are grouped in one place, next to the zoom, towards the output lens. This is also where the fuses are located. To facilitate operations at service centers, the various control boards are identical.

Attached to the moving carriage of the zoom is the prism (in the foreground) and the frost filter.

Installed nearest the output lens, the optical group completes the workings in the head. The moving zoom/focus assembly breaks down into the primary optics, which slide on rails and to which are fixed the prism holder and the frost filter, and the output optics, which are set directly behind the lens of the spot. The rails of the carriages are pre-lubricated with a long-lasting, Teflon-based grease, so no additional lubrication is required.

The maintenance and repair are once again greatly facilitated by the excellent accessibility of the mechanics, as well as by an extremely comprehensive installation manual, entirely in French. For example, it guides you step-by-step through the replacement of the air filters on each side of the head.

Verdict

A star is born. With its egocentric looks, its whims and its idiosyncrasies. Viper, the heir to the Martin throne, has lost its animation gimmicks and lacks forgiveness on the autofocus, but it does not matter in the end. It roars out its light in a dazzling beam and moves like a demon. A model of absolute purity, its optic group gives us a thousand fantasies of colors and looks. It dreams of majestic stages, musicals, rock concerts, of any place into which one can squeeze its athletic frame, with one thing in mind: to stun us with its abilities.

Mac Viper. Affectations DMX.

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Chez Robert Juliat, quand on change de technologie, on ne fait pas les choses à moitié. Après avoir customisé sa gamme 614SX en source Led de 150 W (les découpes et Fresnel ZEP), notre constructeur français invente carrément un concept ultra-modulaire autour de sources Led plus modestes, permettant la réalisation de projecteurs infiniment plus compacts, légers et pratiques, disponibles au format découpe ou Fresnel, en température de couleur fixe ou variable, aux carrosseries multicolores. Bref que du choix. Pour faire le point voici notre test de la découpe led Tibo533 en 3 versions de blanc.

Un Tibo, deux Tibo, plein de Tibo doudou

Tout le monde connaît et apprécie les produits phares estampillés Robert Juliat. Le monde du Théâtre lui voue une reconnaissance éternelle. Ses découpes sont devenues encore mieux qu’une référence, un nom commun, et on peut enfin faire son malin à l’étranger avec des produits bien de chez nous. Malgré tout, face la déferlante des produits à base Led, je me sens obligé de faire un bref rappel. Les plus impatients de nos lecteurs pourront s’ils le désirent passer directement au paragraphe suivant où je les accueillerai avec plaisir dans un instant.

Pour les autres donc. Si certains constructeurs ont immédiatement changé de cap vers une nouvelle technologie à la mode, green, éco et futuriste, nos français ont surtout attendu que cette technologie soit assez au point pour contenter leurs clients et utilisateurs très exigeants. Surtout dans un milieu plutôt conservateur, et dont le budget ne permet pas un renouvellement annuel du parc d’éclairage.

Quand les premières Led blanches au rendement convenable et à la luminosité satisfaisante sont arrivées, Robert Juliat présenta en 2010 ses découpes 630SX équipées d’un bloc Led 85 W Aledin de BB&S. Comme pour la gamme 610, les découpes se différencient par leur zone d’ouverture mais aussi par le choix de la température de couleur : chaude (3500K) ou froide (5900K), cette dernière présentant l’avantage de rivaliser avec une 1000W halogène équipée en Lee Filter 201 (ce qui présente l’immense majorité des cas sur les plateaux télé, les conventions ou les défilés de mode) pour une consommation divisée par 12 !

Aledin, La pionnière, avec son bloc alim immanquable.

Le vaisseau amiral de la gamme led, avec son nouveau menu et son alim intégrée parfaitement.

La petite dernière, la fameuse Tibo et son alim déportée.

Puis Robert Juliat décide d’améliorer son concept et de séparer cette nouvelle gamme en deux. Fidèle au design de la sacro-sainte 614 d’un côté, complètement homogène avec les immenses parcs de découpes halogène, l’entreprise française développe sa propre optique à Led 150 W, une alimentation et un menu spécifiques qui aboutit début 2012 aux découpes Zep, la gamme 640SX dans la terminologie Juliat. Dans des proportions plus resserrées que l‘Aledin, ce projecteur conserve lui aussi tous les avantages de manipulation et d’installation des gammes halogène 1000 W, toujours en trois zoom, en deux versions de blanc, chaud (3200K) ou froid (6000K) capable maintenant de rivaliser avec des découpes 2000 W.

Simultanément nait le concept Tibo. Plus discret en terme de puissance, mais avec des proportions et un poids considérablement réduits, un zoom 2-en-1, un large choix de sources (halogène, Led, puis décharge) et de coloris disponibles, cette nouvelle série au tarif agressif se veut le maillon manquant et le chantre d’une nouvelle philosophie ”Créative Concept Light”.

Tibo Led, prise en main et ergonomie

Si Tibo se décline en plusieurs versions suivant la technologie employée, sa coque en fonte d’alu reste la même. Ses dimensions réduites et son poids lui permettent de se faufiler partout. 53 cm de long, 29 de large, 40 de haut et 10 kg, vont changer les habitudes des utilisateurs de 614. Nous avons eu en test le Tibo 533 en 3 versions Led : blanc froid, blanc neutre et blanc chaud.

La lyre avec son index de site (la plaque circulaire grise autour de l’axe) et ses différents trous de fixation.

Le cerclage de rotation à 360 ° de la tête, la joli petite molette de serrage ”RJ” sur le côté gauche et le module des couteaux, ici au premier plan. Toutes les molettes, poignées et boutons sont enrobés de plastique pour un meilleur ”grip”.

L’arrière de l’appareil avec l’indication de version de led utilisée, ici CW comme Cold White.

La construction reste standard, avec le bloc arrière dédié à la source, prolongé d’une double poignée plutôt confortable. Ne vous inquiétez plus pour vos phalanges, la chaleur diffusée par le bloc Led est à peine tiède.
Deux vis pour le changement du bloc entourent la plaque d’identification. Un fin câble noir rejoint l’alimentation déportée de l’appareil.
Deux anneaux d’élingage sont situés de part et d’autres, juste avant les ailettes de refroidissement entourant le bloc optique.

La partie centrale accueille la fixation de la lyre, accompagnée de la fameuse poignée débrayable Juliat au design légèrement revu. Cette lyre offre six perçages pour les crochets et/ou la fixation de l’alim, trois au dessus et trois sur le côté. La fourche se raccorde au centre de la découpe et propose une contre-plaque indexée pour repérer l’azimut du projecteur pendant les réglages.

Vient ensuite une nouvelle poignée, élégamment formée des lettres R et J fusionnées, permettant le blocage et la rotation de la tête de projection sur 360°. La plupart des axes sont garnis de polytétrafluoroéthylène (du Téflon quoi), matériau idéal pour sa quasi absence de friction et sa grande solidité.

En détail, un couteau (notez la forme asymétrique usuelle chez Robert Juliat) et le porte-gobo taille ”M”, soit 66mm de diamètre, avec ses quatre pattes de blocage.

Gros plan sur le module accessoires, ici avec couteau et porte-gobo.

Le module ”accessoires” comprend le bloc couteaux et une fenêtre d’insertion pour un porte-gobo ou un iris. Les couteaux, d’un format forcément plus petit que ce que nous connaissions jusqu’à présent, autorisent différents réglages sans aucune difficulté. Je les trouve même plus faciles à insérer que ceux des 600 et 700SX. Un coup de blocage, un peu caché sous l’appareil, et plus rien ne bouge. Par contre ne les perdez pas. Leur petite taille, et l’absence de trou pour y glisser une élingue permettant de les amarrer tous ensemble, vous obligent un peu à les laisser dans le projecteur. Mais ils dépassent si peu une fois fermés que vous n’avez pas à craindre de les abîmer pendant le transport.

Le porte-gobo est très simple. Il s’insère via une double glissière et reste en place grâce à la languette de blocage (qui a la même forme que les poignées de couteaux). Les gobos tiennent avec 4 pattes de fixation. Ils seront de taille M (soit un diamètre utile de 48 mm) en métal ou en verre, mais rien ne vous empêche d’utiliser des feuilles plastique imprimées par vos soins lorsque vous prenez l’option Led (enfin vous pourrez recycler vos transparents de rétroprojecteur !). L’iris prendra la place du porte-gobo, si l’occasion se présente, mais vous ne pourrez pas mettre les deux ensemble.

La tête de projection complète le dispositif. Les nouvelles molettes RJ situées de part et d’autre permettent le réglage du zoom et de la focale. Pas de repères cette fois-ci, mais un zoom 2-en-1 plutôt intéressant : avec son jeu de deux lentilles, l’amplitude de zoom de base est de 30° à 45°. En ouvrant le capot du dessus, vous pouvez ôter d’un simple clip la première lentille, et voilà votre amplitude zoom vient de passer de 15° à 35°. Ce dispositif unique en son genre représente une solution budgétaire pertinente pour de nombreux utilisateurs. Il faudra prévoir cependant un endroit ou ranger les précieuses lentilles une fois retirées. Enfin les glissières-avant permettent l’insertion de porte-filtres de toute sorte. Les nouveaux porte-filtres sont d’ailleurs maintenant équipés de deux petits trous aux dimensions exactes des agrafes standard. Un petit coup d’agrafeuse et votre gélatine sera maintenue en toutes circonstances.

La fameuse lentille optionnelle, avec son mini quart de tour de type camelock en haut à droite pour la fixation.

Capot ouvert, près de la lentille du fond ; une plaque trouée. C’est ici que vous glisserez et fixerez la lentille amovible.

Un bloc d’alimentation PWM (à découpage) est apparié au bloc Led de chaque version. Celui-ci est relié via un câble spécifique d’un mètre, inamovible hors SAV, et peut se fixer directement sur la lyre du projecteur, ou être accroché à part grâce à son crochet. Peu encombrant (29 x 20 x 6 cm), d’un poids de 2 kg, il est parfaitement silencieux et possède d’un côté les entrées-sorties DMX 5 broches, et de l’autre les alimentions d’entrée et de recopie au nouveau format Neutrik powerCON True One, électriquement sécurisé et surtout permettant, contrairement au powercon standard, de raccorder directement un connecteur mâle à un connecteur femelle si besoin de rallonge.

L’alimentation côté DMX, l’antenne à gauche est pour le WiFi, mais attendez vous à une antenne interne ou souple dans la version définitive.

Le nouveau connecteur secteur PowerCon True One, cerclé de jaune.

On a toujours du mal à s’habituer aux économies électriques mais sachez que vous pourrez chaîner, sur la même ligne électrique 16 A, jusqu’à 35 Tibo 533, soit plus que sur la ligne DMX, limitée par sa norme à 32 unités. Je ne sais pas vous mais moi ça me laisse rêveur.
Un interrupteur ainsi qu’un disjoncteur thermique réarmable, ce qui nous évitera de chercher sans fin un fusible en cas de problème pour finir au papier alu, complète le dispositif. Un récepteur wifi, proposé par Wireless solution, est disponible en option. Enfin le menu de contrôle, auquel les utilisateurs traditionnels devront s’intéresser, orne la face avant. Je vous le décris de ce pas en détails.

Menu et paramètres

L’afficheur LCD se cale à l’allumage sur son premier menu, « DMX config ». Dès ce moment, un raccourci est à connaître absolument : un appui franc sur la touche ”Exit” allumera la découpe pendant 1 mn pour les réglages, ou jusqu’au prochain appui sur cette même touche. Cette fonction est le mode ”Focus” qui permettra aux électros de régler leurs projecteurs sans intervention du pupitreur.

Le menu tout en bleu, avec ses quatre boutons de commande et ses voyants de contrôle. Oui moi aussi les abréviations utilisées m’ont paru louches…

L’adresse DMX sera la première information à donner à l’appareil. Suivant le mode, les références DMX des autres canaux seront précisées. Tout d’abord une gradation sur 8 ou 16 bits, soit une précision de 255 ou 65 535 pas, ce qui nécessitera 2 canaux DMX à la console, puis l’ajout, ou non, du mode stroboscope, pour un canal supplémentaire.

Le mode Master rajoute lui aussi 1 canal DMX. Ce mode particulier permet à la fois au pupitreur, mais aussi à un technicien en local (grâce à un potentiomètre en option), de contrôler l’intensité du faisceau. Ce canal agit comme un seuil maximum que ne pourra dépasser le technicien en manuel. Le niveau minimum étant fourni par le canal de dimmer, l’opérateur local pourra donc varier le flux de l’appareil entre ces deux valeurs. Bien sûr ce mode très particulier concerne plus particulièrement les poursuites mais le menu étant le même dans tous les projecteurs de la nouvelle gamme Led Juliat, rien n’interdit son utilisation. Ce premier menu résume aussi clairement, outre l’adresse, la valeur d’intensité DMX et le mode de commande choisi.

Un deuxième menu donne les valeurs locales. Un réglage de gradation peut être effectué et mémorisé directement via ce menu.

Le résumé des paramètres, au format petites annonces. Je traduis : Utilisation du dimmer en 16 bits, courbe de gradation ”Square”, inertie ”slow”, mode de découpage PWM, avec un coin stroboscope.

Le troisième menu paramètre les différentes options. La résolution du dimmer en 8 ou 16 bits donc, la courbe de gradation ensuite. Deux choix sont possibles : une gradation linéaire (Linear), très stricte, ou une courbe (Square) plus proche du fonctionnement d’un projecteur halogène.

Le lissage de la courbe d’intensité est aussi un paramètre très appréciable, le « smoothing » permettant de recréer l’amortissement d’une lampe tungstène. En smoothing fast, l’inertie est celle d’une lampe halogène 600 W, en slow celle d’une 1000 W, et without forcément, pas d’inertie du tout.

Le mode de gradation, lui aussi réglable, précise la manière dont fonctionne l’alimentation à découpage électronique, influençant sur les scintillements de la lampe (de toute façon visible seulement avec une caméra ou un œil bionique). La commande PWM, ou modulation de largeur d’impulsions, créé un signal continu (la valeur du dimmer dans le cas qui nous intéresse) à partir d’un signal cyclique, ici à la fréquence de 23,8 kHz. Ce mode est très précis mais peut créer des scintillements si la fréquence de la caméra se révèle être un multiple ou une division de la fréquence porteuse. Le mode ”Free” est une simple commande en courant continu directement, pas de scintillement donc mais peu de précision à bas niveau et un premier pas d’intensité à 5% seulement. Le mode ”Mixte” réconcilie donc ces deux mondes en utilisant automatiquement le mode PWM de 0 à 15 % et le mode Free à partir de 15 %.

Le strobe, à choisir d’activer ou non dans les paramètres suivants, se synchronise directement sur la trame DMX. Avantage, toutes les Tibo se coordonneront parfaitement. Inconvénient, cela provoque des à-coups le temps de chercher la bonne fréquence à la console. La fréquence du stroboscope est très large, variant entre 1 et 55 Hz.

Vous choisirez ensuite les options ”poursuites” en validant le mode master et le contrôle analogique.

Le dernier réglage se veut un calibrage de votre projecteur au sein de votre parc. Si celui-ci se révèle plus puissant que les autres (dans le cas où il n’aurait jamais servi, oublié au fond du cafoutch) vous pourrez limiter son éclairement maximum sur une échelle particulière comportant 32767 pas (c’est précis ça). Ce n’est pas un seuil puisque le processeur intégré calculera toutes les courbes de gradation avec cette nouvelle valeur.

Le quatrième menu regroupe tout un tas d’informations : les compteurs d’utilisation, les tensions de fonctionnement, température et vitesse de rotation du ventilateur, etc. A chaque fois, vu qu’aucun d’entre nous ne connaît ces valeurs par cœur, un petit sigle OK ou, malchance, un No OK apparaît pour valider les informations.
C’est aussi dans ce menu que l’on remettra à zéro tous les paramètres d’usine.

Le dernier menu ne sert qu’à l’activation du wifi.

Enfin, pour une lisibilité immédiate, un voyant d’état système renseigne en temps réel. Celui-ci est vert, un signal DMX arrive bien. Il devient rouge, il y a problème de réception DMX ou un défaut système. La présence du DMX sans fil se signale par un logo spécifique.

Mesures

Ayant reçu trois versions de Tibo à Led – blanc froid, blanc neutre et blanc chaud – nous avons décidé de passer au banc test complet une seule des trois, en l’occurrence la blanc froid et effectué les mesures de flux des deux autres pour un angle de 20° à titre de comparaison.

Suivant les sources utilisées (Led, tungstène, décharge) le flux lumineux diffère complètement, ce qui est fort logique, mais les consommations électriques aussi. Il parait plus judicieux de parler en terme de rendement, soit le rapport entre puissance électrique et puissance lumineuse, et d’inclure aussi le paramètre de température de couleur. La Tibo à Led en version blanc froid n’a comme équivalent qu’une découpe à incandescence gélatinée en 201 ou 202 Lee Filter. Avec ceci en tête nous pourrons évaluer correctement les mesures suivantes.

Tibo 533 Cold White (6500K)

Derating

Courbe de derating. La baisse de flux à chaud ne dépasse pas 6 %.

Comme pour toutes les sources à Led, le phénomène de ”derating” est à mesurer. La baisse de flux de la Led après plusieurs minutes de fonctionnement à pleine puissance est ici parfaitement maitrisée. L’atténuation ne dépasse pas 6 % pendant les 10 premières minutes avant une parfaite stabilisation du flux, signe d’un refroidissement efficace et d’une alimentation de qualité.

Mesures faisceau serré

Mesures d'éclairement de Tibo en blanc froid (CW), faisceau serré.

Mesures de flux de Tibo en blanc froid, faisceau serré.

En faisceau serré, sans la lentille amovible, nous calculons une ouverture de 17°, un peu supérieure aux 15° annoncés par le constructeur. Le flux est très homogène, avec un point chaud en cône moins marqué, et un flux de 3300 lumens.

Mesures faisceau large

Mesures d'éclairement de Tibo en blanc froid (CW), faisceau large.

Mesures de flux de Tibo en blanc froid (CW), faisceau large.

En faisceau large, en remettant la lentille amovible, nous obtenons une ouverture de 52°, soit 7° de mieux que le constructeur qui, une fois n’est pas coutume, préfère se laisser une marge de sécurité. Le faisceau s’enrobe, et hormis deux petites irrégularités vers la zone des 30° où s’effectue la transition entre les deux lentilles, est bien homogène. Le flux se stabilise alors à 3100 lumens. Sur toute la plage de zoom, avec ou sans la lentille additionnelle, la puissance lumineuse ne varie pas de plus 13%, une très bonne moyenne.

Mesures faisceau 20°

Mesures d'éclairement de Tibo en blanc Froid (CW), angle 20°.

Mesures de flux de Tibo en blanc froid (CW), faisceau 20°.

En utilisant la découpe à  20° nous mesurons un flux de 3600 lumens, avec un faisceau très homogène et un point chaud présent mais étal.

Tibo 533 Neutral White (4000K)

Mesures d'éclairement de Tibo en blanc neutre (NW), faisceau 20°.

Mesures de flux de Tibo en blanc neutre (NW), faisceau 20°.

Le flux mesuré à 20° est quasiment identique en blanc neutre et en blanc froid. Nous obtenons 3630 lumens pour un faisceau lui aussi très homogène.

Tibo 533 Warm White (3000K)

Mesures d'éclairement de Tibo en blanc chaud (WW), faisceau 20°.

Mesures de flux de Tibo en blanc chaud (WW), faisceau 20°.

En blanc chaud, Tibo ne se démarque de ses sœurettes que par un flux plus faible : 3180 lumens. Cela s’explique tout simplement par la couche de phosphore supplémentaire déposée sur la Led pour obtenir justement du blanc chaud.

Enfin une quatrième Tibo va maintenant être proposée, en blanc variable de 2700K à 5700K directement en DMX. Elle n’était pas disponible au moment du test.

Comparons les rendements

En analysant plus finement ces résultats, nous pouvons déterminer un rendement lumineux, s’échelonnant entre 42 et 46 lumens/W.

A titre de comparaison, une découpe 614SXII produit un flux d’environ 5500 lumens pour un rendement d’à peine 6 lm/W. L’intensité lumineuse reste bien supérieure à celle d’une Tibo, mais si vous exploitez votre découpe en température du jour, dans la plupart des cas en lui rajoutant une gélatine 201 Lee Filter, le flux de votre découpe halogène tombe alors aux alentours de 2000 lumens, soit 45 % de moins qu’une Tibo équipée en blanc froid !
Quant à la Tibo en blanc chaud (WW) elle se mesure sans problème avec une découpe halogène de 600 W.

Mesures thermique et sonore.

Les Tibo à Led utilisent un ventilateur spécifique absolument silencieux à ailettes circulaires. La ventilation s’effectue de manière automatique suivant la température de jonction de la Led. En cas de surchauffe, le courant alimentant la diode diminue progressivement.
L’alimentation elle, ne nécessite pas de refroidissement.

Ainsi les découpes Led restent absolument silencieuses, comme exigé dans les théâtres.

Utilisation

Dimmer

La qualité de la Led est indéniable. Le faisceau obtenu est pur, cohérent, le rendu un peu « synthétique » de la Led étant à peine perceptible. Le point chaud est présent, comme dans toute découpe, mais reste diffus. Comme toujours chez Robert Juliat, les optiques sont de bonne qualité. Malgré un prix serré et une taille réduite, la projection est propre, sans bavure, sans toutefois atteindre la perfection d’une SXII. Depuis la console, le large choix de niveaux, courbes et inerties de gradation permet un contrôle précis et une similitude frappante avec les projecteurs halogène, surtout en mode « square ». Ce qui surprend le plus, subjectivement, c’est l’absence de variation chromatique suivant l’intensité. Le faisceau ne rougeoie plus à basse valeur, au grand dam des aficionados du filament.

Courbe de dimmer ”Linear”

Courbe de dimmer ”Square”

Focus et zoom

Le design très agréable n’a pas oublié la maniabilité de la découpe. L’utilisateur habitué retrouvera ses habitudes : les molettes serrent vite et bien, le projecteur est bien équilibré.
Les réglages de zoom et focus perdent en plage d’utilisation, et deviennent un peu plus grossiers. La lentille démontable permettant une double plage de focales est une bonne idée, même si cette pièce nous reste un peu sur les bras une fois ôtée. Par contre l’absence de repère sur les glissières de focus, ainsi qu’une netteté quelquefois subtile à trouver aux marges extrêmes de zoom nous rappellent que cette découpe a dû trouver des compromis entre une technologie très aboutie et un tarif accessible à la majorité des théâtres.

Couteaux et gobos

L’avantage de la source Led est la quasi absence de chaleur dans la tête de projection. Les gobos offrent une bonne précision et une excellente tenue dans le temps, même ceux en plastique.
Les couteaux se manipulent aisément. La plage focale est très fine, attention aux réglages en zoom large. L’insertion des couteaux permet de les orienter fortement. On peut ainsi obtenir des formes rectangulaires mais aussi trapézoïdales ou triangulaires. La tête permet elle une rotation de 360°, avec un blocage très rapide.

Gobo grillage focus projeté sur le mannequin.

3 couteaux insérés et un effet étrange, le faisceau nu est net sur le mannequin mais les couteaux le sont sur le fond.

Contrôle

Outre le DMX et l’utilisation manuelle, une option Wifi est possible. Le système est développé par Wireless Solution et réagit parfaitement. Il est possible de récupérer le signal Wifi par une première découpe, puis de transmettre le DMX de façon filaire aux suivantes.
Si vous voulez utiliser le protocole RDM, sachez qu’il est compatible avec le hardware, et qu’une mise à jour software (en SAV seulement) permettra prochainement une compatibilité complète.

Construction

La découpe est assemblée par modules complets, permettant une transformation assez aisée entre source Led, tungstène et décharge ; mais aussi un entretien simplifié. La fabrication et l’assemblage, comme la Cancoillotte, est 100% Française. Le corps de l’appareil est composé de deux demi-coques en fonte d’alu, percées de vis auto-taraudeuses pour un ajustement optimum. Le porte lentille avant, arrière, l’ensemble bloc couteaux et la lentille principale sont communs à toutes les découpes. Toutes les poignées et tous les boutons sont imperdables. L’accès aux lentilles est facilité pour le nettoyage.

Le bloc Led est plus particulier. Comme nous l’avons vu, il nécessite une alimentation déportée, spécifique à chaque type de Led. Cet ensemble est donc unique, relié par cordon spécifique inamovible, et ne peut être séparé par l’utilisateur. Cette alimentation à découpage sans ventilateur est aux normes d’éclairage architectural. Elle ne provoque pas d’appel de courant (soft start), les 85 W de fonctionnement maximum ne seront jamais dépassés, même à l’allumage. Sur une seule prise standard de 16 A, 35 unités pourront réellement être alimentées. Le bloc Led s’insère dans un dispositif de ventilation ellipsoïdal, et projette son flux lumineux au travers un système de double condenseur traité, lentille asphérique puis bi-convexe.

Verdict

Robert Juliat complète sa gamme avec une excellente petite découpe d’appoint, apte à se faufiler dans n’importe quel lieu pour une efficacité redoutable, avec un concept modulaire et unique très complet, au prix cependant d’une optique un poil moins parfaite que celle des best seller de la gamme traditionnelle. La Led et ses avantages en termes de poids, rendement et faible consommation, bouleversera un peu les d’habitudes, obligeant à passer par un réseau DMX et à la bonne maitrise du menu utilisation, mais ces contraintes sont mineures face à l’avantage d’abandonner d’une partie des lourds réseaux électriques et les gradateurs.

The latest addition to the JB-Lighting range, loaded with 61 15-watt RGBW LEDs, the A12 moving head wash is presented as a technological flagship capable of competing with 1200 W arc-source lights. Beyond the advertising claims, does this unassuming, 100% German mover really revolutionize a market locked into a race for power? When the Parisian rental company NAT didn’t hesitate to invest in a significant number of A12s – 500 units – we decided it was necessary to bring one to the test bench..

Handling and ergonomics

I’m a little naive in my approach to opening the shipping carton. While the older VaryLED zoom and A7 are well established in equipment inventories, JB-Lighting does not necessarily thrill me with their designs. The reported power of the new A12 Wash is spectacular but, unpacking it, I remain skeptical. The unit is compact and all black, very stark in its garb of textured, matte plastic. A few scarce markings recall the brand, two large yoke arms form an arc to support the head, over all no sharp edges: this mover will remain very discreet in lighting kits, as long as it is turned off…
But, here, I gladly confuse “simple” and “easy”: I discovered many very efficient and ergonomic details.
For example, the base is simple. It has an arched top, it is relatively small but stable, with slightly rounded edges and it is extruded on each side to form two solid and comfortable handles. The handling tests must have been carried out by lumberjacks, because you’ll have no trouble with it slipping in your hands. This machine is light, well balanced and easy to handle, even without locking tilt or pan. The thick, arching arms, with “JB Lighting” moulded into them, seem a little disproportionate to the size of the head, but allow for extra holds without damaging the yoke. The unit can be lifted with one (strong) hand. In short, it can be installed without problems.

The simple but large display of the A12, surrounded by two rows of buttons that are interchangeable, depending on the desired text orientation.

The front offers a simple, blue display, surrounded by JB-Lighting’s famous eight buttons, a row of four below the screen and four others above. Why so many buttons? It’s simple: if A12 is placed on its base, the four buttons at the bottom – “escape”, “+”, “-” and “enter” – manage the navigation menus. The top four are then not used. If you hang the machine upside down, the display is upside down, and the previously unused buttons at the top will be at the bottom. Simply pressing one of them, you automatically invert the display, and the four primary functions will be assigned to these four buttons. It is very convenient. One strike against the unit is that JB Lighting has not incorporated a battery for addressing the unit without power. This is somewhat unfortunate, though not a severe problem.

Exemplary connectivity and, on the right, the lug for the safety cable pretty well sum up the goal of the manufacturer: the simplest and the most practical solutions are retained everywhere.

One of the mounting options of a bracket on the eight ¼-turn fasteners.

On the rear, the 3-pin and 5-pin DMX connectors are easily accessible (that is to say that they can be disconnected without breaking your fingers). Here, as well, are the Powercon mains connector (blue) and an increasingly rare mains-through Powercon (white) on the other side. The unit consumes about 1000 W at maximum output. Only the most adventurous users would cascade more than three units, but you can do what you like. On the left side of the base is the lug for the safety cable, which is simple but accessible at all times. Additionally, this avoids having a wobbly unit on the ground when the cable twists and refuses to come away from an inaccessible location beneath the base, except for when it flies in your face.

Also for convenience, the eight 1/4-turn, threaded sockets for omega brackets under the base are arranged symmetrically, ensuring at least five ways to install a pair of brackets. This arrangement will be appreciated when the unit is rigged on trusses. Four large rubber feet make it stable when deployed on the floor.

L’optique

The frost filter, a key element to the uniformity of the beam output and color mixing.

The optical system is nestled in a hemisphere notched with thin air vents on the rear and around the periphery. At the front, under a frosted plexiglass plate – which serves also to protect the optics from dust – 61 thick convex lenses are integrated in a rigid plastic honeycomb, forming an impressive hexagon. Removing this crown of lenses, we find the 61 RGBW LEDs nestled at the bottom of each pyramidal reflector. The orientation of each of these square plates of LEDs is varied one from the other by a few degrees in order to facilitate the mixing of the output beams. The vertical movement of this ring of lenses is driven by three motors arranged at 120°, which will zoom the beam with remarkable speed. The downside of this is that the yield and quality of the color mixing suffer a bit. And it is discovered that the frosted plexiglass plate at the output homogenizes the flux of the wash much like a Fresnel lens, contributing greatly to the color consistency, especially in a tight beam. It seems a little fragile for a key element of the optics, so the user will have to be careful.

Detail of the lenses in a tight zoom. Directly under each of these is situated an LED with the three primary colors plus white, all oriented differently for color consistency. The zoom effect is performed by moving the lenses of the LED matrix.

LEDs nestled deeply in their reflectors.

Cooling and LED replacement

Removing the rear cover of the head exposes the two exhaust fans, the only active cooling elements.

Armed with a little patience and a few tools, I now set to dismantling the head. The rear section houses two fans. Removing them, I understand the genius of JB Lighting regarding the interchangeability and cooling of the LEDs. The circuit, flip side, is in contact with a base of aluminum acting as support for 61 heatsinks, each made up of 37 aluminum rods that form an astounding, high-tech forest. Each heatsink is extracted with ¼ turn and we discover, attached underneath, a flexible circuit board, on which an RGBW multichip is soldered. In case of the failure of an LED, this enables the easy replacement of this radiator/circuit assembly, but this is a delicate operation that should be performed either by an authorized service center of the brand or by a technician trained by JB-Lighting.
On the cooling side, each heatsink is encased in a tube that serves as a nozzle, which channels the air pushed by the two fans. Thanks to this novel method, this machine offers a “kolossal” output, while remaining compact and lightweight.

Tubes channel the air around each heatsink.

Each LED has a heat-sink to efficiently dissipate calories.

The LED/heat-sink assembly unscrewed from the mounting.

Under the hood, you find the flexible circuit board, to which the LED is soldered.

Menu and Service

First, let’s take a short tour through the menu. It is simple and allows access to the main functions without frills.
First of all are the parameter reset and fixture settings (unfortunately not configurable from the console, complicating the maintenance of a large stock of fixtures).
Then, there is the DMX address (obviously). In the customization section it is possible to select between five DMX modes (15 to 38 channels), to reverse pan and tilt and to choose the dimmer curves (“Square” mode has the closest feel to a traditional fader and is also the most accurate at low levels).
L’activation du DMW activation via Wi-fi is enabled by selecting the Wireless DMX mode. I did not test it; it works with the proprietary Wi-fi protocol of the JB-Lighting TRX transmitter.
A special option called “Shortest distance” emulates the operation of a color wheel on the color macro setting. Obviously, the pre-programmed colors go from one to another without scrolling through the whole gamut.
Camera mode lets you choose the most suitable driver frequency to avoid flickering when the fixture is used with video cameras.
Enabling or disabling the forced ventilation: in Silent Mode, the ventilation will stop if you do not push the power of the LEDs. The fans are triggered automatically for safety if the detected temperature requires them (along with the noise that comes with them, but this is reasonable).
You can choose to maintain the last DMX command or to move smoothly to blackout in the event of DMW Wi-fi loss.
Service mode allows you to perform a reset of the machine, list the possible operational failures, to run tests or check the DMX info. You can also calibrate the pan and tilt and, when your stock of A12s begins to age – as happens with LED sources – leading to differences between the units’ color matching (Binning), you can calibrate the different LEDs to correct this. This is done by performing a white balance with each LED color. In this menu you can also perform the software update and here you will find the software version information, the total operation time and temperature information for key components.
For the purposes of our test, I set the A12 on its most comprehensive Mode (extended 8-bit RGB), that is to say, with independent control of six separate LED zones on the head, the dimmer in square mode, normal cooling and pan/tilt modes and without re-calibrating the LEDs.
The unit starts up rather quickly. With a reset on startup of 46 seconds, it is within a good median.

Tests and measurements

After spending a few seconds creating the library (OK, minutes), I take the beast in hand and the least I can say is that, when it is turned on, it assumes its full size.

The luminous output is truly powerful, with 24,500 lux at 5 meters in a tight beam at startup, with all RGBW LEDs lit at full power. The nearly 1000 W of LEDs are clearly not there for decoration.

We wait for the flux to stabilize, measuring the illumination at the center every 5 minutes. After 25 minutes, the decay is 14%. Then we begin our measurements at every ten centimeters on two axes.

With all RGBW LEDs at full power, the light output stabilizes after 25 min.

The "lightsaber" of the A12, all LEDs lit and zoom at minimum.

Narrow beam

Illumination measurements for the narrow beam

The "halo" that surrounds the tight beam can be problematic near scenographic elements or curtains.

We obtain a very tight beam of 6.64° at I/2 or 11° at I/10 (calculated by finding the border diameter where the beam is at half of the illumination value at the center and at one-tenth of this value and then deriving these projection angles). It has a very high impact in the center of the beam. The mixture of LEDs with red, green, blue and white (all at maximum power) has a slight comb effect right at the output of the optics, visible close to the tight beam.

The point of impact in RGBW also has some slight nuances of color, indicating that JB-Lighting really sought to emphasize the power. The high flux LEDs, along with a good choice of basic colors, can achieve very impressive “beam” effects. This tight beam, together with very quick movements (approximately 1.6 seconds for a 360° rotation in pan and a complete traverse of the tilt range in less than a second), and a wide range of tilt movement make it a thoroughbred racer for concerts, and make us forget about the halo when the zoom is at its tightest.

Wide beam

Illumination measurements for the wide beam

A12 wide beam.

The rapid and wide-ranged zoom assures me of the usability of this wash. It takes barely half a second to go from minimum to maximum – a ratio of one to five. This commands respect. I measured the wide zoom at 53° I/10 and the luminous flux is very impressive: 14,800 lumens after derating. The fixture is obviously optimized for wide zoom, which seems normal for a wash. However, the beam is marked in the center by a “hole” of 5%, and the “edges” are irregular. Some of the shadows obtained tend slightly towards green or red. In addition, when you enlarge the zoom, the beam gives the impression of opening in rings.

20° beam

Illumination measurements for a 20° beam

Our measurement for an angle of 20° made for comparison, at 5 meters distance (or a beam of 180 cm diameter) gives a luminance of 9500 lux at the center, for a total flux of 10,700 lumens. Even if it lacks a bit of power for this mover to compete at full strength white with a wash using a 1200 W discharge lamp, on the bolder colors, and even more so on the primary colors, the result is there without a doubt. It soundly beats any HMI 1200, with its weight and responsiveness reduced by half.

Impressions and performance

For a manufacturer, the selection of LEDs depends not only on their power but also on their base colors, which determine a color space more or less suitable for stage use, with deep and saturated colors, or for a more “artistic” use where pastel and very soft hues are sought.
The white LEDs are rated at 7000 K, which is the norm for HMI lamps. They do not, however, seem too cold. Hence the whites of the A12 remain “neutral” in most configurations, powerful without being dazzling. The white LEDs alone emit 45% of the luminous output.

Colours

The reds are bright, strong and can come close to the famous Lee Filter 106 with approximately 18% of the total yield of the LEDs.
The greens, very vivid and almost electric, are very bright with 39% of the luminous output. The color is almost a Lee 139 Filter.
Finally the blues, very dense and saturated with UV, manage to be deeper than Tokyo Blue (Lee 071).

The bright red.

The deep blue

Secondary mixtures provide a brilliant magenta and scarlet. The yellow suffers from a predominance of green and, with pale rendering, it is not very bold. The cyans are brilliant. Beautiful hues between purple, violet and aquamarine are easily obtained. Oranges and pastels are less easy to work with. Blues and reds are very saturated, permitting interesting Congos to be created.

Response curves of dimmer

When the “square” curve is selected the dimmer is very accurate, even at low levels, without a stepping effect when the fader goes below 5%.The A12 also demonstrates great responsiveness in strobing and allows, via the Shutter channel, a full range of strobes – constant, random, pulse and ramping up to 20 Hz – without, however, permitting slowly pulsated strobes. Also noteworthy is a very interesting effect called “fade-effect with dimmer” that simulates the dimming of the LEDs in the manner of a halogen lamp.

Dimmer. Square curve

Dimmer. Linear curve.

Movements

The movements are precise and fluid when slow and, at the same time, very responsive to rapid changes. Pan movement is limited to 430°, only 1-1/5 turns.
In normal operation, the A12 remains stable, very jumpy, and so easy to program a programmer will have no trouble in mastering dozens on a console.

Special Features

The control parameters allow the reset of the unit and the remote change of some internal parameters, such as the driver frequency to avoid flickering in video or the setting of the white balance at 8500 K or 6500 K. A special feature (color balance for color picker) calibrates the colors to 6500 K, while smoothing linear RGB curves. This mode allows you to obtain pastel shades more easily, but denaturalizes the bold colors.

In addition to red, green, blue and white, the A12 provides an (electronic) warm corrector setting, acting on RGB mixes only. It is rather crude. It works fairly well to the eye but not to the camera, varying the colors too much. Do not count on it for refined, beautiful skin tones or halogen tones, those remain difficult to obtain.

The color macro setting overrides the RGB mixing when it is activated, providing 17 basic colors and scrolling “rainbow” type effects. You can not make smooth transitions between RGB color mixing of the LEDs and a particular color among the macros, but this setting has two functions that are very well thought out. First of all, a feature allows you to assign the setting of the first ring of LEDs to the entire array. If you recall, for my initial settings I used the extended mode; that is, with the possibility to control separately the groups of LEDs of the fixture.

The different groups of LEDs: center, the first ring, the second ring upper and lower, and the third ring left and right. Clearly, except for this test program, I would never dare to use such a mixture.

In routine use, a single color is most often used, thus forcing me to program the six groups of LEDs to the same RGB setting – a somewhat tedious process. If I activate the “inner ring” function, however, I just have to worry about the color of the first ring, and all other LEDs follow this setting automatically.
The second good idea is the use of the color macros as a supplement to the RGB settings to generate a large number of effects between the different groups of LEDs via the “Pattern” parameter.

This “pattern” parameter offers seven preset chase effects between the different LED rings. Oddly, at JB Lighting they chose a compromise in determining LED rings to be usable individually. With other manufacturers, distribution of the LEDs was done in half or quarter sections, like pie slices, before opting for concentric circles and, eventually, point by point in the most advanced fixtures. In this one, we can control the center, the first ring all together, then the top and bottom half rings of the second and finally the left and right half-rings of the outer ring. Personally, even if it had meant multiplying the groups of LEDs, I would have preferred the outer ring separated into four sections for richer dynamics and to allow me to carve out a little in the beam’s projection.

Here I programmed the red in RGB and picked white on the macro channel, then selected pattern number 6. I won't point out that the programmed patterns practically never use the separate control of the divided LED rings...

This is even more unfortunate because the management of effects (or patterns to use a more appropriate word) is very nice. On the same DMX channel, you can select an effect with different possible speeds, with or without a fade, and you get a “chaser” of LEDs, such as fills, back and forth or randomly between two colors. These are determined by the programmed color of the LEDs in the center in RGBW, on the one hand, and through the macro channel on the other.

The rest of the functions are very simple, with a speed control for the movement and effects, a “blackout” function that cuts the dimmer when changing position or color (which I absolutely never use, except to play a prank on the console operator), then the control parameters for the red, green, blue and white LEDs, depending on the mode selected.

Despite a very tight schedule, I can not resist the temptation to have a little fun with our test unit and I make it do tricks and loops incessantly. It does not give out and continues to impress me with its movements.

Verdict

I really feel that the design is based principally on ergonomics. Lightweight, well-balanced, reliable, easy to handle and fix, and very quick to deploy, this optimized wide-beam wash proves to be an excellent unit for touring, festivals or event stages. It will also be quite at home as a wash for large exhibition areas or large meetings. Its power, choice of colors, the speed of its movements and highly reactive 5X zoom tailor it for aggressive and spectacular use. The design of its LEDs and its rather reduced capacity for matrixing, however, may not be suitable for everyone for close-up use, and the halo of light around the tight beam somewhat complicates its integration into a scene. But the overall quality of light is very correct, and its phenomenal power more than compensates its uniformity, which leaves room for improvement.

General specifications