TruColor HS is a unique color-accurate digital soft source, which uses Remote Phosphor Technology. It is designed specifically to meet the strict standards of motion picture and broadcast production. With more than twice the output of a 2kW incandescent soft light, TruColor HS delivers an extended Color Rendering Index (CRI) over 95, generates a 160-degree beam spread, and uses only 400-watts of AC power.

The HS was awarded the Digital Video magazine’s Best of Show Black Diamond Award that recognizes outstanding achievement in the advancement of video technology. A select panel of engineers, editors, as well as production and post professionals joined the magazine staff as judges.

In addition, the HS fixture also received a Mario Award, from TV Technology magazine. The Mario Awards, established to recognize products that represent significant technical breakthroughs, are named after Mario Orazio, a pseudonym for a nameless engineer and a renowned technology columnist for TV Technology who pens the industry’s most widely read column The Masked Engineer. These awards are given out annually at the NAB Show to companies that demonstrate forward thinking and technical excellence in their products.

Rounding out its wins, PRG TruColor HS was awarded a prestigious Pick Hits Award from the Broadcast Engineering magazine.  The panel of independent judges spend three days on the show floor looking for innovative products and technology based on several criteria, including the technical and financial improvements a product may bring to a facility’s operation.

“We’re thrilled to get such great feedback for the HS,” said Rich Pierceall, PRG’s Director of Digital Lighting Sales. “Professionals in our industry are demanding improvements in digital lighting, and Remote Phosphor Technology allows us to hit higher quality standards in terms of color consistency and output.”

For more information on PRG TruColor visit www.prgtrucolor.com.

Armonk, NY — 

With a wide range of musical styles among contestants and a “who’s who” of guest performances, Healy needs to ensure that the lighting rig is comprised of fixtures that are versatile and powerful. “The Best Boy really is a wonderful light,” said Healy.  “Its got a beautiful flat field. Optically, it’s very good.  There are some wonderful effects like the Moiré gobos and a couple of 3D-type of effects, which are pretty impressive. Also, it has a really great zoom. Compared to similar lights it’s got a much, much better zoom and a purer quality of light.”

Healy was also impressed with the color system.  “We key the show a little bit below daylight and the colors in the Best Boy are very, very rich.  There is nothing that I can’t seem to get out of them in terms of any color that I want. Plus, the color changes are very smooth, which is nice because we have a lot of ballads on the show, so if you want to crossfade from one color to another you can,” he said.  “It also strobes well and it has a great dimmer curve. For framing, the rotating blades are another plus.”

Lighting Director Joshua Hutchings agrees that the Best Boy is a unique fixture.  “The lamp intensity is really impressive especially given the wattage. It is really great having a fully functional hard edge light were we don’t have to give up so much to have a great shutter system,” Hutchings commented. “I see this being the hard edge fixture of choice for designers in TV, film, and theatre, plus the touring guys will love it!”

“One of the most impressive features on the fixture is the amazing zoom. To be able to not only zoom down to a tight clean beam, but also have a template almost fill the entire stage with just one fixture, and still have enough heat to read on camera is awesome,” Hutchings said. “With a trim of only 30′, having that great zoom with the Best Boy became huge. We didn’t have to add more lights to be able to get the same amount of coverage like we would have with almost any other fixture.  Anytime you can cover more area with fewer fixtures that’s obviously a plus.”

In addition to reducing the fixture count because the Best Boys cover a large area, the strobe function also helps to lower the total number of lights needed.  “We love the fast strobe, which they do very well. We have been using a different strobe fixture, but now I think the Best Boy can replace those, which means hanging a few less lights and being able to spend that money elsewhere,” Healy explained.

Hutchings uses the PRG V676^® Lighting Control Console to program American Idol.  “I love the V676. I would not want to have to do these shows with any other console,” he said.

American Idol is produced by 19 Entertainment, a division of CKX, Inc. and Fremantle Media North America Inc.

TruColor HS from PRG is a unique color-accurate digital soft source designed specifically to meet the strict standards of motion picture and broadcast production. With more than twice the output of a 2kW incandescent soft light, TruColor HS delivers an extended Color Rendering Index (CRI) over 95, generates a 160-degree beam spread, and uses only 400 watts of AC power.

The HS fixture utilizes a unique lighting method called Remote Phosphor Technology (RPT), which eliminates the color-accuracy limitations inherent in LED fixtures. Instead of relying on LEDs as the source of illumination, TruColor HS’ independent phosphor panels emit high-quality light when excited by the high-frequency wavelengths from blue LEDs.

“Professionals in our industry are demanding improvements in digital lighting,” said Rich Pierceall, PRG’s Director of Digital Lighting Sales. “RPT allows us to hit higher quality standards in terms of color consistency and output.”

PRG partnered with a leading innovator of phosphor technology to develop special high-CRI formulations that deliver 96 CRI at 3,200K and 90 CRI at 5,200K. The interchangeable polycarbonate phosphor panels allow users to achieve both daylight and tungsten with a single fixture. Additional panels are in development to provide a complete range of color temperatures.

“In addition to delivering a significant volume of super bright, super soft light, HS is intuitive to operate and built to last,” said Pierceall. TruColor HS incorporates anodized alloy construction and field-serviceable components. The fixture’s ballast includes both local and DMX control, and connects to the lamp head with a ruggedized multi-core cable up to 98 feet (30 meters) away. It’s passively cooled, flicker-free, and manufactured entirely in the U.S.

Pricing for TruColor HS will be competitive with traditional and digital lighting for film and television.

For more information about TruColor HS, visit PRGTruColor.com or contact Trisha Maas, Account Executive, at 818-252-2613 or trucolor@prg.com.

See TruColor HS April 16th-19th at NAB booth C6042.

Armonk, NY —  Arts Centre Melbourne, Australia’s largest performing arts centre and the focal point of Melbourne’s cultural precinct, has chosen to purchase PRG V676^® and V476^® control consoles to meet their lighting control needs. PRG will be supplying the consoles through its Australian subsidiary, Production Resource Group (Australia) Pty Ltd.  Both the V676 & V476 consoles are in wide use globally throughout the entertainment industry including on major concert tours, international sporting events, and live television broadcasts.  The selection of the Vx76 control platform by Arts Centre Melbourne marks the first permanent installation of the PRG control consoles in a performance venue.

The PRG V676 console was selected as the control solution for Arts Centre Melbourne’s main concert venue, Hamer Hall. The lighting technology upgrade is part of the redevelopment of the 2,464-seat space, which presents both orchestral and contemporary music performances. The intimate 376-seat Fairfax Studio, a theatrical space at Arts Centre Melbourne that is home to smaller drama productions, will use the V476 Console.  Along with the two consoles, PRG is also providing console backup, remote video nodes, and designer remotes, as well as staff training and ongoing support.

“The PRG console was chosen on the basis that it offered the best development and upgrade path while maintaining a familiar and well laid out user interface within an achievable budget,” explains Chris King, Manager, Theatre Technical Development for Arts Centre Melbourne.  King and the lighting team evaluated a range of manufacturers and control console options before making their final decision.  There were a number of key features that the technical team was looking for in a new console that they found in the V676. “There are so many features associated with the console that we like; it is hard to narrow it down to a few, but the Group Super Palettes, console layout, and ergonomics are the ones that come to mind immediately,” comments King.  Arts Centre Melbourne also liked the graphical approach to managing show data on the Vx76 platform and the Media Palette, which is unique to PRG Vx76 consoles. Along with lighting, media control via the console was a requirement of the project.

A major benefit seen by Arts Centre Melbourne, and a factor in their decision, is the ability to work directly with the console development team at PRG. This streamlined communication between Arts Centre Melbourne and PRG has already proven that future development of the Vx76 console platform is a shared priority. “Arts Centre Melbourne has a great relationship with PRG. The people on staff are friendly, helpful, and knowledgeable and their responsiveness to our suggestions and to service needs is quick and attentive.”

Version 3.0 includes several new features that extend the console’s capabilities along with a number of enhancements that both programmers and designers will appreciate. The Media Display has been moved to the Function Palette on the front panel of the console for easy access to media clips. The Console now includes CITP Media Protocol Control.

Along with an expansion to 4,000 channels of control, v3.0 has a revised Patch spreadsheet that provides an improved interface for editing and tagging data, as well as the ability to view multiple dimmer addresses patched to a single control channel. Other programming features in the v3.0 release include: Group Copy by parameter, Copy and Move Subs, Copy Channel Using Group, and Manual Data Undo. There are also a number of new tools provided in the Group Super Palette such as Multi-Level Ad Hoc Selecting by filtering Channels, Palettes, Presets, Dynamics, Cues, and Intensity States. A smart grouping feature provides user-definable channel selection.

The Vx76 software application provides an integrated 3D programming environment, which includes real-time status and off-line editing. The v3.0 software Layers feature adds functionality to the Plan View and provides the user with many different “views” of the system. In the Plan View, users may also draw Regions, which can be easily manipulated.

A new Basic Profile Editor is also now available on the V676/V476 product pages of the PRG website HERE.  The Profile Editor application is used for creating a basic profile definition for a fixture that does not currently exist in the console, as well as importing fixture profiles. This is a stand-alone application that runs on any Macintosh operating on Snow Leopard or Lion.

For more information on the Vx76 v3.0 Software, please click HERE.

(Photo by John Shearer/WireImage)

Armonk, NY — Production Resource Group, L.L.C. (PRG), was pleased to support lighting designer Bob Dickinson and his Full Flood team when they lit the 54th Annual Grammy Awards, on Sunday, February 12. For the biggest night in the music industry, PRG provided the entire lighting package including the Best Boy 4000® Spot Luminaire. Dickinson’s dynamic design marked the first use of the Best Boy 4000® since it was launched at LDI2011, where it received the Live Design Debuting Product of the Year.

Dickinson used 18 of the new Best Boys, split between the two performance stages. “Since these were the first ones, I didn’t have a large number of them so I decided to put them on the floor and use them for patterns and effects. At one point, we were doing a very tricky number with Chris Brown, which was on a pyramid of white blocks. The tops, sides, and fronts of these blocks were projected on with front projection. However, Chris himself and the dozen dancers were not lit by the projections. I used the Best Boys® because their shutters are highly accurate to sidelight Chris and his dancers and to precisely carve out the white blocks, so the light did not contaminate the projection surface. When you are doing that kind of framing, an inch makes a big difference. The Best Boys® were incredibly accurate.”

Dickinson was very impressed with the entire feature set that the Best Boy 4000® offers. “This is the single most exciting new instrument that I have seen in over 10 years. There is no other light that has been so well thought out and successfully achieved its design goals as the Best Boy 4000®. The optics are amazing; the output and the field of the light are just wonderful; and the color temperature is consistent and not too blue, because the color temperature of a lot of these instruments gets really high. Optically, it is unparalleled right now in the marketplace.”

After his experience using the Best Boy® on the Grammy Awards, Dickinson notes he would be very confident in expanding their role in his future designs. “Usually if you want framers then you have to make sacrifices. If we want a full selection of patterns, then we can’t have framers. The [Best Boy] 4000 does a great job because it offers all the features we want so we don’t have to hang a rig with framers in one place and full pattern units in others. This allows us to have everything that we want from a single light. I would absolutely hang a rig predominately with the Best Boy 4000®.”

The PRG Best Boy 4000® is a precision-engineered automated light with a truly complete feature set. Designed to be energy efficient, the unit delivers over 20,000 lumens, but draws only 5 amps at 208 volts and 10 amps at 110 volts.

Other PRG proprietary products in the Grammy Award lighting package included V676 ® Lighting Control Consoles and the PRG Series 400® Power and Data Distribution System. As a part of the video projection system, PRG provided V476® Lighting Control Consoles and Mbox Extreme® Media Servers.

For more information on PRG, please visit prg.com.

For more information about the Best Boy 4000® Spot Luminaire, please visit http://www.prg.com/product/bestboy4000/.

In an area of about 3,000 sqm, visitors will experience new and established products live, in use in a real production environment. Every hour, guests will experience a 360-degree immersion of PRG’s premiere lighting, sound, video and automation products.

Visitors to the ‘Festhalle’ will have an opportunity to learn more about PRG’s global services and proprietary products such as Bad Boy luminaire, V676 control console and Mbox media server.
A particular highlight is the Best Boy 4000 Spot – the latest PRG proprietary product – which makes its European debut at Prolight + Sound 2012.  Furthermore, PRG will present the LED systems V9, V9 Lite, V18 and V28. PRG’s experts will be on hand to demonstrate all of the products, upon request.

In the entrance area, visitors will have the opportunity to spend some time in a relaxed atmosphere and speak to PRG experts from all markets: Concert Touring, TV & Film, Theatre, Corporate & Trade Show and Special Events.

About the trade fair presence, PRG GmbH (Germany) General Manager Morten Carlsson said, “After the positive experience in 2011, we are pleased to continue our partnership with the PRG LEA in 2012, which gives us the possibility to use the live setup of the award show as our exhibition space during Prolight + Sound. This exhibition is one of the leading international fairs for event technology, where industry experts from all over the world come together. PRG staff from many global locations will be on site in Frankfurt to present our clients and visitors our broad range of products and services we offer across the markets we serve.”

Founded in 1988, Paskal Lighting has served the motion picture and television industries for over 20 years, with one of the largest inventories of lighting and grip equipment, as well as a fleet of production vehicles capable of accommodating any size production throughout the United States.

Paskal Lighting will operate under its own brand name, as a full member company of the PRG group, with Evan Green continuing in his role as President. “Paskal will continue to service our long time loyal customers as we always have, and will now have the additional support and strength of the PRG organization to further achieve our goals.” Green commented.

“The acquisition of Paskal Lighting brings us a like-minded company dedicated to customer service and solution-based technologies,” said Scott Hansen, President & CEO, Corporate & Trade Show, TV & Film, North America.  “Paskal’s expert production teams will add significant depth to our Film and Television division. Both companies will continue to provide the cutting-edge technology and expert support that today’s filmmakers and broadcasters demand.”

“Evan and his staff at Paskal are highly regarded in the industry and we are very pleased to welcome them to the PRG family,” added Jere Harris, PRG Chairman and CEO.

For more information on Paskal Lighting, please visit www.paskal.com.

Mitch Gross, Applications Specialist and Product Manager for Lighting, AbelCine, said, “When I saw what PRG was developing with the Foton, specifically the concept of remote phosphor technology, it really struck me as very forward thinking and something outside the current norm. It is more power efficient; it is more heat efficient; the trueness of the color is more accurate at the start and will remain more accurate over the lifespan of the light.”

The Foton’s unique incorporation of remote phosphor technology allows it to achieve a CRI of more than 95 with a nearly continuous light spectrum previously unattainable from traditional LED sources. It was designed specifically to eliminate the color-accuracy issues inherent in LED lighting for film and television production. The Foton is also completely flicker-free at any frame rate, silent, waterproof, and generates almost no heat. Power consumption is less than 30 watts and is available in either AC (90-305 VAC) or DC (12-40 VDC) models. The Foton currently matches tungsten sources. Daylight models will be available in early 2012.

Local dimming from 0-100% is achieved with negligible shift in Correlated Color Temperature. The Foton AC unit also allows for output control though an external dimmer. Foton utilizes a bayonet-style system for attachments to alter the beam characteristics. The unit ships with three open-face reflectors, providing 20º, 40º and 60º beam angles in a single-source hard-edged light. With the 20º reflector, the Foton delivers over 400 Lux at three meters. Barn doors and color frames are also available.

In Europe, Ianiro UK Ltd. will be distributing the PRG Foton.  “The Foton will be welcomed by everyone from ENG cameramen shooting outdoors in European drizzle to filmmakers facing wintry mountain conditions. Its small size, high output and low power consumption means it will also be a welcome addition for specialist crews working underground, in disaster zones or desert environments,” said Nick Allen-Miles, Managing Director, Ianiro UK.

Both AbelCine and Ianiro UK look forward to being among the first to provide remote phosphor lighting to the creative community. Already recognized by many in the industry as a groundbreaking technology, the PRG Foton was awarded the 2011 Cine Gear Expo Technical Award in the Lighting category.

For more information on the Foton, please visit: prg.com/product/foton

About AbelCine

Established as AbelCine Tech in 1989, AbelCine is a leading supplier of professional film and digital equipment with facilities in New York City, Burbank, CA and Chicago, IL. Core services include equipment sales, rental, technical service, digital media services and training. The company is the North American agent for Phantom high-speed cameras, as well as a Sony Solutions Reseller, Panasonic Specialty Reseller, Arri digital camera reseller and the exclusive US agent for Aaton motion picture cameras. The company is also the first Carl Zeiss Authorized Service Partner in the Americas. In 2011, the company launched its rebranding as AbelCine, to reflect its expanded role in the marketplace.

For more information on AbelCine, visit www.abelcine.com

About Ianiro UK, Ltd.

Ianiro UK is a partly owned subsidiary of the Rome Factory and distributes internationally lighting and lighting accessories, camera support equipment, dollies, tracks, cranes and jib arms. Ianiro UK has a network of dealers and distributors throughout Europe that serve the film, broadcast and video industry. Known for the sale and rental of lighting equipment and accessories, while developing at the same time the production of portable fixtures for the industry.

For more information on Ianiro UK, visit www.ianirouk.com

Other products in the PRG booth, #1127, include the PRG V676® and V476® Lighting Control Consoles and the new Mbox Director™ application that allows remote control or offline editing of the Mbox EXtreme® media server. Along with PRG’s award-winning proprietary products, will be the ChamSys MagicQ MQ100 Console and ChainMaster ¼, ½ and 1-ton capacity Fixed Speed Motors. In addition, there will be the new PRG Nocturne V-18 LED Video Modules, a product that is quickly becoming the most widely specified LED screen in the industry. This screen offers superior imaging in 18mm resolution that is lightweight, flexible and easy to install.

The PRG Demo Room, #S230G, will offer in-depth demonstrations of the new Best Boy 4000® Spot, the Mbox Director, the V676® Control Console and the new and extremely flexible PRG Rolling Deck.  The PRG Commander™ Automation Console that was used for the innovative scenic effects on Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark and the 2011 Academy Awards will also be on hand. In addition, PRG will show the OHM™ Light, an LED Softlight, and the Foton™ Light, a new fixture that uses innovative cold-phosphor technology for film and television applications.

Be sure to stop by both the PRG Booth #1127 and the PRG Demo Room #S230G and see all that PRG has to offer.