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Control Desk
Mains supply
DMX 512
Dimmers
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now connect the DMX512 control cable to each lighting fixture, it is normal for two DMX512 connections to be found on each fixture one input and one output. All lighting fixtures on the stage are daisy-chained together, and the control desk is connected to one end of the chain. Mains supply
Control Desk
DMX 512
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Addressing
It is of course common to have more than one lighting fixture in a DMX Universe, and therefore a system is required to permit each lamp to be individually controlled. For this reason, all DMX512 lighting fixtures have a Start Address setting which is usually found on the fixture either in the form of a set of DIP switches or as an electronic menu system. Using a combination of the Start Address setting and the fixed number of channels recognised by each lighting fixture, the user is able to control every channel on each lamp individually. Taking the example of the start address shown on the electronic display here (Channel 43), and the seven channels allocated to the fixture in the previous example, we can deduce that the gobo wheel can be controlled by adjusting channel 45 from the control desk (Start Address 43 + Local address 2). The start addresses on a selection of DMX512 lighting fixtures must therefore be appropriately spaced out across the 512 channel range, to ensure that no overlaps occur. However, it can sometimes be desirable to have two or more lighting fixtures of the same make and model to behave in precisely the same way on stage. To achieve this functionality, their start addresses can be set to the same value and they will behave identically on stage.
This packet is generated by the controller and repeats continuously, irrespective of whether the channel values are changing or remaining constant. There is no possibility for a reply to be sent from the lighting fixture back to the controller, so DMX 512 is a fire and forget type of communication. Due to the lack of error checking, it is possible that some corruption of data may be possible in very noisy environments or due to a loose connection in the cabling. For this reason DMX512 is never used in safety critical applications, and would therefore not be used to trigger potentially hazardous special effects such as pyrotechnic devices. DMX512 packets have to be transmitted continually, and this can be a heavy burden on microcontrollers used in DMX512 controller applications. We shall explore alternative control methods later in this guide.
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of heat, which can adversely affect the on-board microcontrollers of lighting fixtures. With the advent of higher-performance light emitting diodes (LEDs), many lighting manufacturers have begun to create lighting fixtures which do not use the traditional halogen bulbs but instead rely on an array of LEDs to provide the light. This new style of fixture has resulted in some interesting opportunities for silicon vendors due to the methods of lamp dimming that are employed. Dimming an LED based lamp is not voltage controlled, as would often be the case in a traditional halogen lamp fixture, but instead the LEDs are flashed on and off at high speed (a method of control known as PWM Pulse Width Modulation) to create different levels of light from the fixtures. The use of LEDs rather than halogen bulbs also generates interesting possibilities for the number of colour permutations that can be generated by the lamp. The colour selection on traditional halogen lighting fixtures was limited by the number of gels that could be included in the colour wheel, but LED fixtures can now mix any colour that the user requires, simply by adjusting the brightness of three different coloured banks of LEDs; Red, Green and Blue. It is also worth noting that LEDs can be switched on and off very quickly, enabling strobe effects to be created by the fixture. This was impossible with halogen lamps.
Xilinx FPGAs can also be used to implement the PWM blocks for the LED dimming, along with servo motor controllers for the pan and tilt functionality. This enables designers to deliver a one chip solution for DMX512 enabled lighting fixtures. CPLDs can also be used for the DMX512 Slave functionality, given the simpler structure of the IP core. The following block diagram shows an example DMX512 design for a lighting fixture. Note the absence of a processor in the system, which greatly simplifies the design and removes the need to write and test software on a functional and timing basis.
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Red LEDs PWM Green LEDs PWM Blue LEDs PWM DMX Receiver Pan Motor Control Tilt Motor Control
DMX Data
The Xilinx Embedded solution also permits the implementation of microcontrollers / processors inside the FPGA. This enables the designer to create DMX512 designs containing dedicated DMX512 hardware, which offload the repetitive packet handling from the processor and allow it to be used to implement user interfaces and concentrate on system control. The DMX512 Controller and DMX512 Slave IPs are available in both standalone form and also as ready-made EDK microprocessor peripherals. A variety of system control possibilities exist including the PicoBlaze 8-bit uController, the MicroBlaze 32-bit RISC soft processor, and the PowerPC 405 & 440 hard IP processor cores.
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The DMX512 specification also mandates the use of 5 pin XLR connectors for DMX controllers and lighting fixtures. Although it is technically a violation of the USITT specification, it is accepted practice in the lighting industry to use 3 pin XLR connectors in some circumstances. All of these connectors can be sourced though Avnet EM from Amphenol Connectors (http://www.amphenol.co.uk/). Example part numbers are shown below. Part Number Amphenol AC3FB Amphenol AC3MMB Description 3 Pole XLR connector (Female) 3 Pole XLR connector (Male)
Example Products
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