So overwhelmed has SGM been by the reaction to its X-5 white strobe – described by SGM as the world’s first professional LED strobe – that the Italian company says that it has increased its scheduled production in order to meet the demands of the market.
The white light X-5 was previewed as part of SGM’s streamlined new range, showcased for the first time at Frankfurt’s Pro Light+Sound Show in April.
“We believed the concept of an LED strobe would revolutionise the market – but even we had not anticipated this level of response from lighting designers and the global rental community, or the large number of orders we would receive,” said SGM’s commercial director, Giorgio Radice.
Head of R&D, Peter Johansen, added that prospective customers had noted the compactness of the fixture, the fact that it would deliver the same output as conventional high wattage strobes at a fifth of the power and were environmentally friendly. “Rental companies can save on two gensets of 150kW each by replacing 100 conventional strobes with our versions,” he said. “That represents a huge cost saving.”
“The X-5 consumes 80 % less than conventional strobe lights while producing similar light output ,” continued Johansen, “but the new range of features gives the LD a complete toolbox of light effects that has never been seen before. This enables him to deliver top quality entertainment while contributing heavily towards saving the planet by reducing CO2 emissions by 80%.”
SGM’s white strobe contains 3,000 LEDs with a 50,000 hour lamp life; rather than requiring 1,600 amps to drive 100 conventional strobes, the X-5 only requires a 300-amp draw.
Doubts as to whether the same impact could be achieved with LEDs as with a conventional xenon flash lamp were, according to SGM, quickly dispelled. “Hire companies appreciated that the waveform would give LDs a lot more creativity, with thousands of new effects, and take up half the space of a similar strobe,” said Radice. “Because power consumption is no longer an issue, at last there is no limit on how many strobes can be used in a show.”
The X-5 white LED strobe utilises 3,000 Welly Power LEDs, housed in a black, slim aluminium chassis. It also contains 160° lens as standard, tilt of 0°-180°, 1 or 4 DMX channels and set up is via OLED 5-button graphic display.
As with all SGM’s new LED models, cooling methods are said to have been improved via rectangular heatsinks, set-up and address procedures improved with the aid of internal diagnostics, and control procedures implemented to ensure that lamps run flicker-free.
