Interesting new (not!) ideas for dimming

[RJ]

A post from Dan of LOR made a a few weeks ago:

"We have the new Gen2 controllers being released next year. They have been going through months of testing, and are currently undergoing UL 508 certification. Gen2 will be a major step forward in firmware as well as many new features in the hardware such as  On Card Ghost Loads (which will help with LEDs), they can also optionally have real snubbers which will help in 240v countries where transformers are plugged into the controller. Other new features as well.

The new Gen2 controller code, is being written so that most of the new firmware based features can be used in our existing controllers as well. Most existing controllers will have a free firmware upgrade that will provide multiple dimming curves. which will help normalize incandescent and LED fades. The fade resolution is being changed from 256 steps to 1024 steps across the ZC. This is important because a device like a LED has such a limited dimming range, that fade step size (with only 256 steps) can be an issue. In addition there are a number of other new features and new lighting effects generated. "


Wow!

 Man we should add these to the Express!

Oh wait, We did! a few years ago. Imagine 1024 step dimming to make LEDS ("Normalize") lights  

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and snubbers on the controllers theres a new idea!

Just wish the DIY'ers could keep up with the commerical guys and all their money.

RJ

[PJNMCT]

Wow....you got it RJ.

Way to go - congrats! 

-Paul

[Rainlover]

The commercial guys are gonna have to do some catching up.
We have RJ.

John

[RJ]

apparently one user read this as a nasty comment agianst LOR.
It is not intended that way, it is just poking fun.

When I released LNT a few years ago there where lots of comments about it being just a gimmick to make my controller sound better and had no benefit. So now to have LOR do the same I believe I deserve to poke a little fun at the situation.

 RJ

[Jeffl]

This brings up a good question.  What does 1024 steps compared to 256 really matter?  Is this really something you can see or is it just marketing?

[RJ]

Oh it is much more than marketing. If you increase it then you can fit a curve to the leds so you can get the full dimming of the leds instead of the small little range of dimming we see.

Good example:

Set an express to default curve. Plug a string of typical leds in.

Record where the leds come on at  in the 0 - 255 range of DMX.

Record the point where you can not longer see it keep going up in the 0 - 255 range.

Note how big the steps are when you are fadeing up manually one step at a time.

Now load a curve for the led in the express and try it.

Do the same :

You will be shocked. You will no longer be limited to 30% - 40% dimming range.

This post is one example of a user trying it for the first time.

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RJ

[loveroflife96]

RJ...from everything I've learned so far...it shouldn't surprise anyone that a DIYer is doing more innovative stuff than the commercial guys.  DIYers find unique and innovative ways to solve problems when they come across them.  The commercial people wait for enough problems or comments to be made before they make the investment in R&D.  RJ...I have to say it...although you make this stuff for your own display, you are gracious enough to share your knowledge, help, and thoughts with the group at large and everyone here benefits from what you do. 

Keep up the innovations.  Wish I could help, but I'm a dummy in the electronic department, give me a spec sheet and directions and I can build it.  Hopefully I can contribute to the group in the innovation of use of the new technology!! 

Can't wait to get my hands on some Smart Strings and start playing for next year!

[aERonAUtical96]

So I'm curious what LOR's plans are to generate the curves?   With their large user base, I wouldn't expect them to provide a service like RJ does to generate the curves.  I will be curious to see what their user community does with this technology.

[Jeffl]

I thought I read somewhere about the ability to specify a curve in S2 per channel.  My thought is then that information would be sent as pert of the data stream to the controller.

My thought is this would work and would be easier for the end user as long as you have and end-to-end solution from LOR using the default LOR protocol.

I need to play with this feature.  I used 4 LE units this year without any curves and thought they looked fine.  Maybe I don't even know what I got.

[WWNF911]

I'm actually shocked to see the big companies doing and new R&D at all. Probably a good indication that someone made a dent, or possibly a huge dent in their market.   

You know what that means if this doesn't work. The only thing they could do beyond this is come down in price.  I'd be really shocked if that happened however, it'd never touch what you built here RJ.

Congradulations

[Jeffl]

The DIY community has put a dent in the market as whole for the commercial sellers.  However, Dan at LOR is a smart man.  It obvious you don't have to have the best product to have a successful business.  You do have to keep up however and sometimes that means watching others try things first to make sure they work.  When Dan releases a new product you can bet it will work and it probably won't change for 5 years afterwords.

Kind of sound like Bill Gates.

[trekster]

A quote from above "possibly a huge dent in their market"

600 expresses sold in 3 weeks.  I just checked the LOR kit price with the optional heat sink at $120.  That would be 600 X $120 = $72,000 dent.  OUCH!

Ron

[TexasStingray]

600 Units that just the start, If you read the Coop people were pm'ing RJ wanting more, more, and more. I just want to give a BIG THANK YOU to RJ for making it not only affordable but great fun to build.

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU.
 

[wbuehler]

OK ALL

Enough with the side tracks, this thread is about dimming curves used in controllers not a A vs B tread.

Bill

[Jeffl]

I really need to play with the curves.  I will need a Lynx DMX dongle to get this done correct?

I watched the video of the different hardware and dimming.  It was staggering the differences in controllers and LED vs Incan.

What I think would help people understand what this LNT technology is a video that shows how a before and after implementation changes things.

I'm sure a video already exists but I just haven't seen it yet.