Philips Selecon LED Luminaires Create Green Creativity at Straallan School

(13/06/2013) Scotlands prestigious Strathallan School has invested in Philips Selecons latest LED luminaires in a major upgrade to its theatre lighting facilities.

The Perthshire school chose to purchase Philips Selecons PLfresnel1 LED, PLprofile1 LED, and PLCyc1 LED luminaires to dramatically reduce power consumption and costs, and provide an easy-to-use yet creative, professional option for pupils. For control, they invested in Philips Strand Lightings new 250ML console.

Black Light supplied all of the Philips Selecon and Philips Strand Lighting equipment.

The school originally approached Black Light to update and tidy its theatres existing dimmer and tungsten installation, but it soon became obvious that they wanted to make a more fundamental change to the theatres lighting, says Black Lights Managing Director Gavin Stewart. We discussed a selection of revamp options from a simple upgrade to a complete LED install. The potential cost savings swung the school over to Philips Selecons LED option because it ticked a number of other important boxes for the school: it would use less power, be more flexible, offer a vastly more exciting experience than conventional luminaries and deliver real environmental advantages.

Black Light worked closely with Philips to ensure Strathallan School received the best possible solution.

Key benefits of the Selecon luminaires to the school include simplified colour matching, an easy-to-use user interface, and the fact that with this luminaire its no longer necessary to change lamps or colour filter. Combining the superior control and light quality of Philips Selecons PLfresnel1 and PLprofile1 with seamless fading between colours allows designers a new level of creativity.

The development of this luminaire started with the beam and quality of light from an incandescent luminaire, says Pete Borchetta, Product Marketing Manager at Philips. We wanted to create a theatrical lighting instrument that worked and felt like that of its incandescent counter part; from its quality of light, to its output, to its dimming. In the PLfresnel1 we have achieved just that, a fresnel that does everything that a designer and technician would expect in a luminaire - but with the performance, responsiveness, and color that you get out of a very high output RGBW LED Luminaire.

The PLprofile1 is a variable beam profile with precise beam control and pattern projection from a high output beam with an innovative combination of LED source technology and precision optical design. The PLprofile1 uses the same proven LED engine as the Philips Selecon PL3, PL1, PLCyc1, PLfresnel1and the Philips Vari-Lite VLX ranges meaning colour matching is simplified across the stage. The user interface is the same ensuring ease of use.

Strathallan Schools Performing Arts Coordinator Mary Robertson-Barnett comments: The installation has given us great flexibility in terms of colour effects that may be achieved. Scrolling through the spectrum allows for gradations of colour and a fineness of resolution and blending which we were not achieving with traditional gels. The quality of the light is beautiful with a clarity and purity which is markedly different from our old tungsten lights.

The lights remain cool during operation which has improved the performance experience for our pupils. The reduction in electrical consumption achieved through LED is in line with the Schools commitment to reduce power usage and its standing as an eco-school.

The first production to be lit was Into the Woods, which was the senior school musical. The junior musical High School Musical 2 will also benefit from them and there have been a number of informal concerts and lectures.

Pupils who have benefited from the installation so far have been excited by the potential it affords them, continues Mrs Robertson-Barnett. The performers are enjoying the quality of light and the reduced temperatures on stage and those involved on the technical side are starting to explore the range of possibilities the lights give them in terms of effects and colour blending.

The Philips Strand Lightings 250ML moving light control console installed at the school features four encoders and an LCD display screen for quick and easy automated lighting and LED control. Along with all the standard features found on a preset desk, the 250ML control console is ideal for smaller productions with a hybrid of lighting instruments.

The 250ML is already proving itself to be an ideal lighting control solution for schools and colleges, multi purpose venues and smaller theatres, confirms Amber Tomlin, key account manager for Philips Entertainment UK. We had a great response from customers and end users in Frankfurt and PLASA Focus and were excited for the future.

Philips Entertainment Lighting accommodates a diverse range of entertainment applications including: stage and set lighting, film and broadcast lighting, and video-based effects and displays. It also supports architectural lighting of performance venues, whether to enhance theatre lobbies or to create a dynamic exterior effect to coincide with performances.

With the acquisitions of Genlyte (including its Vari-Lite and Strand Lighting brands) and Selecon, Philips dramatically expanded its entertainment lighting portfolio from specialty lamps to the industry-leading luminaries and control systems that are prevalent in the field today. Collectively, the group provides wide-ranging products from simple lamps to complete solutions designed with the specific needs of the entertainment market in mind.

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