Is LED Lighting Taking Over the World?

I recently saw a popular country star's arena show, and in the rig I could not see one incandescent light. I could not be completely sure, but as I reached the backstage dimmer area, I found out that indeed there were a couple conventional lights, and 1 small dimmer rack. Probably less dimming than most church readers of this website have in their rooms, for a big arena rig supporting a major country artist. Just a few years ago, we were still working with major lighting systems in the 100s of dimmers for this artist.

This may bring you to wonder, "Is this the end of dimming and conventional lighting?"

You've probably seen the advertising for LED lighting fixtures all over the place. $ 100 pars with 16 million colors that does not require a dimmer. If you're looking to buy, it looks like the end of dimmers is here, but is it?

Since all of the hype certain marketers have built, the end is not here for dimmers, at least not yet! The technology is still new, and it is not perfected yet. While these fixtures may look great out of the box, that can change quickly. 6 months down the road, it may really not be what you were led to believe, as the LED's may start fading or changing tint.

So are LED's taking over the world and dimmers disappearing?

Yes, but not yet. I wrote above about the marketing hype that leads people to believe they can replace their conventional lighting with LED's for no cost above the cost of new conventional lights and dimming. While there is not yet a cheap replacement for flesh tone conventional light with LED's, that era is coming soon. The main reasons for this is poor CRI, or color rendering index, and choppy dimming. Cheap LED lights just do not yet look good enough to our eyes. However, a few professional stage lighting companies are coming out with LED fixtures in the $ 1000 price range that defy the odds and are good enough for the camera.

This is where life gets exciting. If you are reading this a few years after 2013, you'll probably be laughing because these fixtures will be available for just a few hundred dollars. The technology curve is moving so fast, and it is very exciting!

In the mean time, you can still change all of your colored lighting with LED's, and it is much more cost effective in the long run. This is because LED lighting is additive color mixing. Deep colors are made by just turning the light just on a little, instead of using a gel and turning the light up to full just to get it to cut through a wash and new products have great color output. This saves the frequent cost of replacing gel as well as the power used by the light and the heat it generates. Plus, your performers will love the reduction in heat on your stage!