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Common Terms
The following are common terms used in intelligent light programming.
Blackout is a state where all lighting fixtures’ light output are set to 0 or off, usually on a temporary
basis.
DMX-512 is an industry standard digital communication protocol used in entertainment lighting
equipment. For more information read Sections “DMX Primer” and “DMX Control Mode” in the
Appendix.
Fixture refers to your lighting instrument or other device such as a fogger or dimmer which you can
control.
Programs are a bunch of scenes stacked one after another. It can be programmed as either a single
scene or multiple scenes in sequence.
Scenes are static lighting states.
Sliders are also known as faders.
Chases can also be called programs. A chase consists of a bunch of scenes stacked one after
another.
Scanner refers to a lighting instrument with a pan and tilt mirror; however DMX controllers can use
this term to control any DMX-512 compatible device as a generic fixture.
MIDI is a standard for representing musical information in a digital format. A MIDI input would provide
external triggering of scenes using midi device such as a midi keyboard.
Stand Alone refers to a fixture’s ability to function independently of an external controller and usually
in sync to music, due to a built in microphone.
Fade slider is used to adjust the time between scenes within a chase.
Speed slider affects the amount of time a scene will hold its state. It is also considered a wait time.
Shutter is a mechanical device in the lighting fixture that allows you to block the lights path. It is often
used to lessen the intensity of the light output and to strobe.
Patching refers to the process of assigning faders to a DMX channel within a fixture.
Playbacks can be either scenes or chases that are directly called to execution by the user. A
playback can also be considered program memory that can be recalled during a show.
DMX-40B User Manual 7
Revised: 2006-12-06 09:36:47