The Pharos RIO D4 is a new four-port DALI remote device for Pharos Designer controllers, launching with support from Designer software version 2.14. Each RIO D4 adds four DALI buses to your Pharos Designer control system, providing a convenient and scalable way to output DALI control to luminaires and ballasts, and to receive DALI commands to use as triggers.
Commissioning
DALI is programmed within the Designer desktop software app, alongside DMX fixtures and device configuration. DALI luminaires such as single-channel, RGBWA, Tc and XY ballasts are added to the layout in the same drag-and-drop interface, and with all the same duplication and transform tools. In the DALI tab there are two modes, allowing you to manage your interfaces: discovering, addressing and grouping ballasts and controls, and to programme DALI scenes.
Designer provides significantly more programming flexibility than just the traditional 16 DALI scenes; DALI luminaires can be programmed within standard lighting scenes (up to 1000 in one project) and dropped onto timelines to play on demand, as well as directly sending Set Level, Set XY Colour and Set Colour Temp values to any ballast on any timeline. Designer features such as timeline priority and conditional logic for triggering also offer functionality not normally available within the DALI protocol.
Triggering
As well as sending recall scene and set level commands to DALI luminaires, each DALI port listens for DALI commands on the bus, which can be used as events to play effects on your DMX lights from an existing DALI system; by setting up triggers for those commands on any Pharos Designer controllers – both LPC and VLC controller families.
In Designer v2.14 we have added support for enhanced DALI commands, extending the DALI Receive functionality for DALI controls such as button and wall stations, keypads, light/lux sensors and occupancy sensors.
New RIO D4 trigger features in v2.14:
- DALI Button Event trigger
- DALI Illuminance trigger
- DALI Occupancy trigger
- Set DALI Feedback State action
The RIO D4 supports bus power detection, and triggers can be set up to report changes in the bus power status. There is also support for DALI emergency lighting, including scheduled tests, battery level and lamp hour data, with results and reporting available via the controller web interface.
DALI and DMX
Pharos LPCs output control protocols simultaneously, so events that trigger lighting changes over DMX, eDMX (Ethernet-based protocols such as Art-Net) and DALI all happen seamlessly and on cue.
Furthermore, our LPC capacity product names (such as the LPC 1 or the LPC 50) indicate DMX universes. Those channel capacities only apply to DMX-patched fixtures (512 channels per universe). DALI devices (ballasts, RGB luminaires, etc) are not counted towards the used channels limit on the controller – we only count the DALI ports associated with a controller.
Scalable systems
Multiple RIO D4s can be added to your system to provide integration wherever a local DALI bus is located. Within Designer software, any of the connected ports on each RIO D4 are assigned to a DALI Interface, with the total number of available interfaces depending on controller type. An LPC 1 can support up to 16 DALI interfaces spread across multiple RIO D4 units. With each DALI bus fully loaded at its capacity 64 ballasts, that’s potentially 1,024 DALI luminaires as well as 512 channels of DMX from a single LPC 1! An LPC X supports 100 DALI interfaces, again, without impacting DMX channel capacity.
Power
The RIO D4 is a Power-over-Ethernet device, which can be deployed wherever you need it, with just one cable for data and device power.
Note: each DALI bus requires DALI power, which should be provided separately.
Architectural lighting solutions
The Pharos Designer LPC + RIO D4 package provides everything you need for professional architectural lighting settings, controlling the functional (and often pre-exisiting) DALI system, as well as the dynamic lighting control required by DMX-based LED fixture installations. Augmenting a DALI scheme with DMX for decorative, kinetic lighting art, and the added value of the Pharos LPC as a DALI-integrated controller includes its intelligent and comprehensive show control capabilities, multiple-protocol output, and multi-system integration features.
