What are the best UV lights for UV active backdrops

[Cognitive Dissidents]

Hi everyone,

 

I have an event decor business, Cognitive Dissidents UV Active Decor, and I have 20+ backdrops ranging in size up to a massive 15m x 1.6m which I hire out. I have a few 400W UV cannons and a few UV LED panels such as the LEDJ UV Stratos panels http://prolight.co.uk/item/ledj66/

 

I find the cannons are good in the near field and give good dispersal, but if you want to illuminate at long range they're no good. Whereas the LED panels are great at long range but have a narrower dispersal.

 

There are many other benefits from the led panels, such as low power consumption, smaller, more compact, bulb doesn't break, no warm up time, DMX controllerble, etc.

 

I reckon the LEDJ UV Stagewash 18 and 36s are the best on the market for range and coverage... Does anyone have any other recommendations? And what would be a better configuration - 2 of the stagewash 36s or 4 of the stagewash 16s?

 

http://prolight.co.uk/item/LEDJ101/

http://prolight.co.uk/item/LEDJ102/

 

Thanks,

 

Murray

 

http://www.cognitivedissidents.co.uk

http://www.facebook....itivedissidents

[norty303]

Hiya Murray ;)

 

If you have really deep pockets, have you seen the Wildfire units?

http://www.wildfirefx.com/products/lighting/index.aspx

[Cognitive Dissidents]

Hiya Murray ;)

 

If you have really deep pockets, have you seen the Wildfire units?

http://www.wildfiref...ting/index.aspx

 

Hey Adam, fancy bumping into you on here ;)

 

No I hadn't come across these. Their website say POA, which always means £££. That and there doesn't seem to be a UK distributor as far as I can find on Google.

 

Got an idea on price and uk availability? How would they compare to a standard 400W cannon?

 

But TBH, I do a lot of London squat parties so I'd be constantly worried if they're megabucks. The LED units are rugged design, lightweight and you know the bulbs aren't going to break. Plus at £200 they're not too expensive.

[musht]

Long standing hate of UV cannons, they aren`t really a very efficent way of generating blacklight, hot, heavy, sunburning, arc eye causing and prone to throwing the dummy.

 

Wildfire make UV fresnels with the big trick being variable focus, the lamps are iron doped discharge lamps that boosts the useable end of UV output, POA etc. means film market used to be their main end and hire costs would ,er, suprise you...

 

Variable focus is available on some blcklight LED units but at a premium, still knocks out Wildfires main unique selling point.

 

There is a question mark over UV LEDs longetivity, figure on single figure `000 hours for useable life, still probably typically years of hire use but something to be aware of on install.

 

Big slab of blacklight, bit heavy and benefit from being cased for transit, will blow any comparably priced LED unit, probably up to x times the price, out of the water;

 

http://www.cookies.co.uk/product.aspx?productid=26941

 

(first ADJ UV vendor on google not a vendor recommendation)

[Cognitive Dissidents]

Thanks for that musht! I hadn't come across the ADJ UV panels before. Have you used them before yourself? I assume they take standard UV fluorescent strips right?

 

The thing I like about the the LEDJ stagewash panels is that they do throw a long way. Will the ADJ UV panels throw as far?

 

I've just researched the Wildfire series and been quoted £1500 for a 400W long throw flood/spot combo unit, and that's not including postage, packing and import taxes to the UK! I think that rules Wildfire out of the running!

[Brian]

I assume they take standard UV fluorescent strips right?

No. They take a single-ended lamp.

[bigclive]

First time I've seen ADJ's compact UV fixture, and I like the look of it. I've always had a preference for the use of fluorescent tubes in blacklighting applications due to their seemingly greater efficiency in producing UV. I wonder how easy it is to get replacement tubes.

[Brian]

First time I've seen ADJ's compact UV fixture, and I like the look of it.

 

They're not a bad unit - I bought some for an install.

 

Observations...

 

• 
   
  
• They are surprisingly large and sturdy (=heavy)
  
• The reflectors are real glass mirrors (=fragile = would need to travel in a flightcase)
  
• The front panel is plastic
  
• They are bright. 160W of UV is not to be sneezed at
  
• They are wide angle - probably around 120-150 degrees
  
• Spare lamps are around £12
  

[Cognitive Dissidents]

Hi Brian, any comment on throw distance with the adj panel?

 

Last week I had one ledj stagewash 18 pointed at a 15m x 1.6m backdrop from a distance of say 10m away from the nearest end of the backdrop at a 30 degree angle to it and the whole backdrop was pretty well lit...

[Brian]

Hi Brian, any comment on throw distance with the adj panel?

Some thoughts...

 

1) You are wasting quite a lot of UV by using just one source. As the UV comes out of the fixture as a symmetrical cone of light you'll be covering the same height as width. So by using just one fixture to cover a 15m wide backdrop you are also illuminating a 15m high backdrop even though you only use 1.6m of it.

 

2) Having a unit vastly off to one side will also waste light as you'll suffer from square-law losses to the farthest point.

 

 

With a single unit dead-centre, 10m away from a 15m wide backdrop you need a unit with a 74 degree coverage. Any wider and you waste UV, any narrower and you'll not reach the edges.

 

With the ADJ units in this setup, your optimum throw would be around 4.4m.

[Cormac]

What about something like this.

 

http://www.chauvetlighting.com/led-shadow.html

 

Dimmable LED UV.I know some of the larger UK rental houses have invested in these products,not seem them myself but perhaps worth a look.

 

regards C

[ianl]

I have some of the elation uv wash. Reasonably cheap, rugged, and a nice even wash of uv. I would use them over a cannon for backdrops every time