One of the outstanding products at this past year's Live Design International Conference (LDI) in Las Vegas was Chauvet Professional's Ovation ED-190WW LED Leko. I was happy to meet the engineers at Chauvet Professional at the conference, and they reviewed with me what makes this product so special.
What makes the Ovation ED-190WW such a trailblazing fixture is its ability to be controlled off of any conventional dimming and control system. The Ovation ED-190WW can run on constant power and controlled by DMX (as LED fixtures typically are) or it can be connected directly to a conventional dimming power source. The electronics in the fixture automatically detect the type of power and data you are currently using, and the fixture responds accordingly.
For those who fear transitioning to an LED control system will be extremely costly, this product enables you to completely avoid retrofitting your lighting control system to handle LED fixtures. You do not need DMX and constant power distribution for the Ovation ED-190WW. All you have to do is hang your Ovation
ED-190WW onto a pipe, plug it into you existing lighting circuit (that is connected to one of your dimmers), and the fixture will dim on and off as if it was a conventional tungsten halogen leko. That is pretty cool … but does it really work?
Chauvet Professional sent us two Ovation ED-190WW LED Lekos for testing in our lighting lab at California State University Long Beach. We were able to perform extensive testing on this product. Plus, we were able to use the Ovation ED-190WW in a real world application on a show produced by the school's department of theatre arts.
Fun with fixtures
First, let's talk about the build quality of the fixture. The fixture is extremely well made and is quite hefty (although its 20.6 pound weight is quite comparable with other LED lekos). The hanging hardware, yoke, and tilt adjustment handles are sturdy and easy to operate. In the rear of the fixture are several control and Neutrik PowerCon connectors (to handle just about any control and power system you may have). In addition, there is a display window for DMX addressing along with controls for other features mentioned below. It sports three- and five-pin XLR connectors for DMX control, as well.
The lens tube focuses smoothly and is snug enough to prevent that horrible wobbling that is typical in cheaply made lighting fixtures. The shutters are substantial and silky smooth in their travel. We especially appreciated the large thermal-controlled shutter handles. In addition, there is a gobo and accessory slot as well as some pretty cool truss mounting bolts on the yoke. The entire fixture feels up to the quality that its price would demand.
One of the Ovation ED-190WW's features is the ability to convert one of your existing ETC Source Four lekos into an LED by attaching the lens tube of the Source Four onto the LED body of the Ovation ED-190WW. We were able to easily accomplish this. For those with inventories of Source Fours or any industry standard lens tube, you can save money by only purchasing the back end of the Ovation ED-190WW, and using your existing lens tubes in your new LED fixtures.
So how does this technology work? In one word, “beautifully.” Of course we were able to control the fixture like a typical LED lighting source by plugging it into a 120V constant power outlet and controlling it via DMX. However, we were eager to see how this unit worked when you plugged it into a conventional dimmer. Sure enough, the fixture responded just like a conventional tungsten halogen leko. What is so amazing is that even when you lower the dimmer to a very low voltage, the light is still controllable.
Speaking of lowering the dimmer, this is where the rubber hits the road for LED fixtures. One of the qualities we always test is the dimming response and curve of the LEDs, especially at low intensities. Some cheaper LEDs will stutter and snap out at very low intensities. I am happy to report that the Ovation ED-190WW reacts to low intensities very well. Its 16-bit dimming and advanced software programming allows the fixture to dim out slowly and smoothly, nearly identical to a standard tungsten halogen fixture.
Since this product is mainly intended for retrofits, we compared the Ovation ED-190WW to a conventional tungsten halogen leko. We hung it right next to a standard 26-degree 575W ellipsoidal from our inventory and tested its output. We were amazed that not only was the Ovation ED-190WW just as bright, its color temperature was visually indistinguishable from the other fixture's Tungsten Halogen lamp. The LED light source includes 19 warm white, 10-watt LEDs. It has a terrific 100,000-hour life expectancy. The color temperature at full intensity is 3,076 Kelvin. The field was extremely flat with no hot spots or trailing edges of light. The optical path is made of high-quality lenses, which ensures an even field. The focus range is quite smooth and varied, and the shutter plane is precise so that shutters do not appear to be out of focus with each other. Overall, the Ovation ED-190WW's optical quality is excellent.
The Ovation ED-190WW does all this virtually silently. It has two power levels: Studio and Power. The maximum noise level in Studio mode is 44 dB @ 12 inches, and in Power mode 51 dB @ 12 inches. However, standing a few feet away we could not hear any fan or mechanical noise at all. This is especially important in noise sensitive applications like theatre, broadcast and, of course, worship environments.
Parting Impressions
A good LED fixture depends as much as on its software as its hardware. As mentioned above, the Ovation ED-190WW's excellent dimming performance is partly due to its advanced programming software. There are simple and complex DMX channel profiles that allow you extraordinary control of its dimming capabilities. It also features nine dimming modes and boasts an excellent electronically controlled shutter-strobe with a 0-20 Hz strobe rate.
Yes, Chauvet Professional's Ovation ED-190WW is truly a game changer. It is designed to replace your conventional lekos and its color and intensity are truly indistinguishable from tungsten halogen light sources, all with a lamp life of 100,000 hours and using a fraction of the electricity. We are renovating one of our theaters at California State University Long Beach to an all LED lighting system, and the Ovation ED-190WW is one of the fixtures we are considering to replace our conventional tungsten halogen lekos.
If you are currently considering retrofitting your existing lighting system to LED, I highly recommend that you look at Chauvet Professional's Ovation ED-190WW. The money saved from not having to change out your conventional control system may make it possible to buy more LED fixtures than you had previously thought.
