The inroads of technology and its pace have been different in
different sectors. I have been associated with 2 sectors where it’s been really
slow. The first was construction sector in which I graduated; and the second
being event management.
In the event management industry, the overt-covert tip-toe of technology has not been too evident. The lighting technology is the one I am focussing on today; and that too just 1 specific fixture – the par lights.
The black cylindrical can in which these lights used to be housed gave out a strong yellow light (like the big brother of incandescent lamp) and we event managers would give it different hues with cellophane paper masking.
The par (or as commonly called par-can) light has now found a replacement in digital par lights which have better performing. Instead of one right light, these have a number of small LED lamps that change colours. A flick of the button decides if the set designer wants a changing multicolour effect or in single colour. The colour selection depends on your taste and smartness – sometimes the result is tacky and sometimes fascinating. Despite the features and developments mentioned above, these LED par lights are amazingly energy efficient. While the par-cans would take up 1 KVA power, the LED based lights take up just 15% of it thereby reducing the requirement of the generators.
So despite the double amount we pay up in rental, the energy saved is more than 5 times. While writing this line I realize that it’s also helping the environment by producing much lesser heat and burning lesser diesel in the genset.
What is priceless, however, is to see the technological appreciation
in my clients’ eyes when the technician presses the button to change the colour
of the light :)
The changing colours of a phera mandap lit by digital par lights
