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Designer v1.9 now released

Wednesday, November 30th, 2011

Pharos Designer version 1.9 is now available. This release is includes support for our two new controllers – the Touch Panel Controller and the LPC 4.

What’s New in v1.9

  • Support for new LPC 4
  • Support for new Touch Panel Controller (TPC)
    • TPC Button trigger
    • TPC Slider Move trigger
    • TPC Colour Change trigger
    • TPC Keypad Code trigger
    • TPC Page Change trigger
    • Temperature trigger
    • Set TPC Control Value action
    • Set TPC Control State action
    • Set TPC Control Caption action
    • Set TPC Page action
    • Disable TPC action
    • Lock TPC action
    • Set Screen Brightness action
    • Associate Interface Editor file
    • Set default screen brightness & inactive level
    • Set screen Inactive and Off timeouts
    • Set auto screen brightness for ambient light adjustment
    • Wake screen on proximity detection setting
  • Patch information displayed when hovering over fixture
  • sACN output supported by all lighting controllers
  • Flexible eDMX patch for TPC and LPC 1/2/4, just like the LPC X
  • LPC 1 allows TPC to output local DMX via its second DMX output interface (DMX proxy)
  • Dual IP addressing for TPC and LPC 1/2/4, separating output protocols from management traffic
  • Intensity trigger actions support fade and delay times
  • New Timeline Released trigger
  • New Toggle Timeline action
  • New Colour Fade group preset
  • Enhanced flicker effect
  • New Lua script functions to change timecode sources

We would very much welcome your comments and feedback as always.  Please get in touch with us at support@pharoscontrols.com.

We hope you enjoy what Designer version 1.9 has to offer you.

Happy programming!

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TPC launched at PLASA

Friday, September 16th, 2011

Thanks to everyone who visited us at Earls Court this week.  We had a great show and a fabulous response to the Touch Panel Controller.

Here’s the video we’ve made for the TPC launch:

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Designer public beta available

Tuesday, September 6th, 2011

For those who would like a sneak-peek at some new software, Pharos is making a beta version of the forthcoming Designer v1.9 available for download and evaluation. This software will include support for the two new controllers – the Touch Panel Controller and the LPC 4 as well as many new features, including:

  • Flexible eDMX patch for TPC and LPC 1/2/4, just like the LPC X
  • Dual IP addressing for TPC and LPC 1/2/4, separating output protocols from management traffic
  • LPC 1 allows TPC to output local DMX via its second DMX output interface (DMX proxy)
  • sACN output supported by all Lighting Controllers
  • Patch information displayed when hovering over fixture
  • Intensity trigger actions support fade and delay times
  • New Timeline Released trigger
  • New Toggle Timeline action
  • New triggers and actions for TPC
  • New Lua script functions to change timecode sources
  • Enhanced flicker effect
Also available for evaluation is a beta version of the new Interface Editor. This application allows you to build themed user interfaces for the TPC, creating and organising multiple pages of buttons, sliders and colour pickers.

Beta software is for evaluation only – please do not use this software for any active projects without first consulting us. Please ensure you have backed up any project files that you are using with release software as you will not be able to open them in v1.8 after saving them in v1.9 beta. If you discover a bug, please email support with details of your computer, the project files and instructions to help us reproduce the problem.

As always we welcome your feedback and comments, and please get in touch if you have any questions.

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Coming soon! The new LPC 4

Thursday, August 18th, 2011

The range of Pharos lighting controllers continues to grow. Not only are we announcing the new Touch Panel Controller, but we have a new LPC for you too!

Introducing the LPC 4

Pharos LPC 4

Providing more system design flexibility, the LPC 4 is a four universe controller in the same form-factor as the LPC 1 and 2.  It can output two universes locally using the DMX ports and two more via multiple eDMX protocols, including Art-Net, Kinet and sACN.  Alternatively, as with the LPC 1 and LPC 2, the LPC 4 can output all data via eDMX protocols.

Dual IP

We’re going to make it even easier to manage eDMX installations using the TPC and LPC 1 / 2 / 4 range: still using just the single Ethernet connector, we are introducing dual IP addressing to allow lighting control protocols to be routed to a different IP network to the management network.

As always we welcome your feedback and comments, and please get in touch if you have any questions.

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Coming soon! The new Touch Panel Controller

Thursday, August 18th, 2011

We are delighted to announce our exciting new product – the Pharos Touch Panel Controller.

The TPC is an advanced, standalone, solid state lighting controller with an integrated 4.3” customisable touch screen, 512 channels of eDMX output and vast interfacing potential all over a single PoE network connection.

Pharos Touch Panel Controller

Programmed in Pharos Designer, the TPC has the same advanced playback and show control engine as the popular and award winning Pharos Lighting Playback Controllers. Over an Ethernet network it can interface with other Pharos controllers, button panels and remote devices. The companion Interface Editor application allows you to build themed user interface pages, creating and organising multiple pages of buttons, sliders and colour pickers to suit the installation and customer needs.

The elegant wall-mounting design features a magnetic overlay within the sleek, plated bezel to produce a modern, streamlined design; a variety of finishes and overlays will be available. The TPC is a Power over Ethernet (PoE) device and therefore requires just one cable to install. It controls networked eDMX fixtures, integrates with building management systems, serves web apps to mobile devices and allows remote management over the Internet. Built-in environmental sensors can be used for daylight harvesting, occupancy sensing and temperature monitoring.

Full details including datasheet and sales spec can be found on the new TPC product page.

As always we welcome your feedback and comments, and please get in touch if you have any questions.

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New Pharos Website

Wednesday, February 9th, 2011

The new Pharos website

We’re about to launch our new website, full of brand new content. It’s now easier to navigate, faster to load and features a new Portfolio section packed with images and information about Pharos installations. You’ll still be able to find information on our products, download our software for free and browse our help documentation, though now you’ll be able to do it in fewer clicks.

This blog will be fully integrated with the new website, giving you one place to go for everything you need to know about Pharos. You might have noticed that the url of the blog has changed, but don’t worry, all the old urls will continue to work.  Next time you visit the blog it will probably look rather different…

We hope you like the renovation!

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Pharos Designer v1.8 now released

Friday, January 7th, 2011

Pharos Designer software version 1.8 is now available. This release is primarily intended for the revised LPC with support for its new features, such as Analog Input triggers and the onboard DMX-in option. This release also includes support for the forthcoming RIO Audio device.

What’s New in v1.8

  • Support for revised LPC hardware
    • Multi-function serial port: RS232/RS485 (including DMX in)
    • Multi-function digital/analog inputs
    • Explicit universe count selection for LPC X and LPC
    • Modules tab is now called Interfaces in Network view
  • Support for new remote device: RIO A
    • Remote audio triggering from up to 30 frequency bands per stereo channel
    • Remote timecode input
    • Remote MIDI triggering and MIDI timecode input
  • New Analog Input trigger (for the revised LPC hardware)
  • New Analog Input condition (for the revised LPC hardware)
  • New RIO Audio Input trigger
  • New RIO MIDI Input trigger
  • New RIO MIDI Output action
  • New Disable RIO Audio Input action
  • New RIO Analog Input condition
  • New RIO Digital Word condition
  • RIO Analog Input trigger can now fire on ‘Any’ input of ‘Any’ RIO
  • Fixture comments exported/imported to/from CSV files

We would very much welcome your comments and feedback as always.  Please get in touch with us at support@pharoscontrols.com.

We hope you enjoy what Designer version 1.8 has to offer you.

Happy programming!

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The LPC gets a make over!

Friday, January 7th, 2011

The same award winning product, with enhanced connectivity and improved performance.

Pharos is pleased to announce that we are now shipping an updated version of the LPC, incorporating newer technologies already available in our more recently released Controllers and Remote Devices.

The revised Pharos LPC, now shipping!

  • The 8 inputs can now be configured as contact closures, digital or analog inputs
  • Serial port updated to be a multi-protocol port supporting RS232, RS485 or DMX-in triggering, with an installation-friendly 3-pin connector
  • Colour-coded power connector to reduce risk of incorrect plugging
  • New output status LED to indicate both DMX and eDMX data
  • New indicator LEDs on Ethernet port for network diagnosis
  • SD card replaces CF card

Rest assured that the LPC will continue to operate in the same dependable way that you have come to rely on and with the same pricing. It is supported by the new v1.8 release of Pharos Designer software.

New RIOs on the way too!

Expansion Modules have been a great way to extend the capabilities of your LPC but they were not the answer for systems using the LPC X or AVC, which do not support the expansion bus. We are therefore expanding our range of Remote Devices, which currently includes the RIO 80, RIO 44, RIO 08 and BPS. These have been a great success with their more flexible design based around Ethernet and PoE. The updated LPC no longer supports the expansion bus and we will be offering two new RIOs:

  • RIO A – Remote Audio Device with stereo audio-in and support for up to 30-band spectrum analysis and enhanced timecode decoding, as well as MIDI in/out
  • RIO D – Remote DALI Device supporting both DALI Master and Slave modes

The RIO A will be available early this year, with the RIO D available soon after. Please contact us for more information and pricing on these exciting new remote devices. Note: there will be no direct replacement for the DMX-in module as all our Controllers are now capable of receiving DMX directly.

Lifetime support

Please be assured we will maintain original units for service and replacement needs, and of course will honour our 5 year warranty on all products. We are very excited about these enhancements to the LPC and the new RIOs. As always we welcome your feedback and comments, and please get in touch if you have any questions.

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DMX-in on the AVC!

Tuesday, November 30th, 2010

Did you know the AVC can receive DMX directly for triggering?

The AVC’s multi-protocol serial port has always been able to accept either an RS232 or RS485 connection, but we recently enhanced the RS485 functionality to accept a DMX connection too!

We think this has many applications, particularly in theatrical environments where the AVC has already been used as a compact, reliable solution for delivering video projection content as part of a production. A single DMX channel from a lighting console can control multiple timelines thanks to Pharos Designer’s flexible trigger interface and the new AVC Master action allows a DMX channel to master the intensity of the AVC’s output.

Don’t forget that the AVC’s serial port has great potential in other applications too; often a projector or video screen will have a serial port, so as well as delivering the content, the AVC can also be programmed to control the display device for functions such as lamp on/off, zoom, etc.

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Introducing Pharos Installation Manager

Friday, October 1st, 2010

Installation Manager v1.0 is now available.

Installation Manager is part of a new suite of utility applications. It is a market-leading tool for managing multiple lighting and AV installations remotely over the Internet. Consider a retail chain with 200 stores and technicians travelling to every store to make programming changes; instead Installation Manager can be scheduled to automatically upload while the stores are closed. This massively reduces the cost and carbon footprint of managing multiple lighting and AV installations. The tool can also monitor status, manage media content, send email alerts and, if the network connection fails during an upload, it retries and resumes where it left off.

Life made easier by Pharos!

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