Specifications

“Lighting Systems Made Easy” Page 4
Preface
A lot of people ask how lighting works in respect to audio and the answer is fairly simple:
In audio you use a mixer to set the levels of your inputs and then send those levels to the
amplifier (s).
In lighting you have a control console which acts like a mixer and sends output information to
the dimmer (s).
Amplifiers power speakers.
Dimmers power fixtures.
Speakers output sound.
Fixtures output light.
The following page contains a diagram that further explains this relationship and will visually
reinforce this theory.
The important thing to remember is that there are three major parts to a lighting system:
1. Control Console
2. Dimmers
3. Fixtures
1. Control Console
As stated above, a lighting console is a lot like a mixing console in the fact that you are setting
levels for each channel. The difference on a lighting console is that the operator (often called
lighting programmer or designer) is setting levels for a dimmer channel (which is wired to
fixtures/lamps). You can think of a channel on a control console as a (dimmer) slide pot that
allows you to run a group of lights from 0-100%.
2. Dimmers
Dimmers are to lights what amplifiers are to sound. Power distribution devices that relay high
voltage power. The major difference is that dimmers drive fixtures or lamps instead of speak-
ers. The other reason we use dimmers is that a lamp that is set to a level less than 100% will
generate noise (buzz). Dimmers use inductors, or chokes, to filter this noise. The bigger the
inductor, or choke, the quieter the dimmer.
3. Fixtures
Fixtures are wired to dimmer channels via different types of connectors. Some use plugs like
U-Ground (Edison), Twist Locks or Stage Pins and others are hard wired using a terminal strip
(primarily in installations). The PAR is the most popular fixture, however, we will discuss most
fixtures in this manual.