Countless single light sources on the wall of Martin’s booth at latest Proligt+Sound exhibition are constantly drawing our eye with punchy effects, powerful flashes and colors. These effects come from the new VDO Atomic Dot, a tiny projector of tremendous efficiency, resulting from a combination of strobe, blinder and video pixel.
This small octagon shaped PAR30 box integrates in the first place a powerful central COB LED with optic lens, available in two versions, warm white or cold white. Around this middle lighting point, a circle of 16 small RGB LEDs takes place and shines around the central LED which is sent towards the reflector.
We thus obtain a colorful “matrix” Aura effect, visually very convincing. The beam created by the central LED has an angle of 11°, but it can open up to 22° when the sources are combined, raising the luminous flux up to 3,600 lumens at full power.
Close-up view of the small “Dot” with several accessories such as a frost filter or a quick coupling module.
As we discover this device, its name rigns to our ears as obvious. VDO for its use as a pixel via the P3 protocol or ArtNet, Atomic for its power that is really meeting all expectations, and Dot for its “mono compact source” feature.
But there are more innovations to come. Mind you, this small concentration of lumens will be just as comfortable in a dry environment as in wet conditions with its IP65 certification.
It includes a new connector developed by Martin, where datas and power supply transit in the same cable. No external power supply, each unit is supplied with mains power and regulates easily its mains power supply.
The VDO Atomic Dot rear side view, with details of its hybrid connector.
This point seems important to us, and the boxes needed for the connection between this wiring and the more conventional only have this function and don’t include any electronics.
This small Dot can – piece of cake – address almost all the imaginative requests of the lighting designers in terms of hanging and integration by its wide potential of fittings and hanging props. Other accessories are available such as diffuser filters to widen the beam up to 60°, or adjustable barndoors.
A small promising fixture, clearly versatile, configurable in mono DMX channel as a simple blinder, 3 or 4 DMX channels in “Atomic” (strobe) mode, but, in extended mode it will require 64 channels, showing the richness of its parameters. Finally, our Martin guide on the booth, Wouter, announces a public price around 500 € HT per unit.
More information on the Martin Website.
