Five months after an enthusiastically acclaimed debut at the PLASA Show in London, the bee leaves the factory. B-Eye K20, a moving-head LED wash fixture capable of graphic and aerial effects through point by point control of its RGBW LEDs and its rotating optical group, has already started a brilliant career at the opening ceremony of the Sochi Olympics and at the Super Bowl halftime show in the U.S.

Obviously we were looking forward to getting our hands on it, and discovering what lies behind one of the biggest buzzes of the whole year in 2013. The whole Sound Light Up light team got together to discover this new fixture.

Overview

As its name suggests, the B-Eye K20 is an evolution of the A.Leda range, so it is natural to find the 37 RGBW LEDs (15 W each) with individual control. The two major differences are to be found in the optical system, which involves a light guide for each LED, to achieve color mixing, and a rotating output lens. In addition, at the software level, the evolved effects generator allows the quick and easy creation of aerial or projection effects.

These developments make it possible to have an all-in-one wash, beam and effects fixture. The body is made of a slightly shiny, black plastic. As it weighs only 21 kg, the fixture can be easily carried by a single person. You should nevertheless be wary of a slight imbalance that may surprise you the first time you try to pick it up.

As with the K20, only the pan locks (every 90°). The lack of tilt lock can always be troublesome, especially during maintenance.

On one side of the base, there is the display and the keys for navigating a very simple, six-part menu.

Some menu functions, such as halogen modes, can also be activated via the control protocol you choose. You can control the DMX input signal directly from the menu in bits or in percentage values.

On the other side of the base, there is the power switch and the connectors. A PowerCon input for power, two pairs of XLR connectors (three and five pin) for DMX in/out and an RJ45 network connector for updates or for control via ArtNet.

You can also use this fixture as an ArtNet node, with ArtNet protocol input on the network connection and DMX output via XLR to distribute to other fixtures in the same universe.

Under the hood