New from a Danish manufacturer.

The Frankfurt show is approaching, and this year it's clear that manufacturers will be racing in the number of premiere presentations. Martin, which has just unveiled a refreshed new version of the iconic MAC Viper luminaire, does not stand apart from this group.

According to the Danish manufacturer, in its press-release, which I received before the launch, this is a device in the "Viper" class, integrating "iconic Viper quality," proprietary "XIP" weatherproof technology and a tweaked set of the best Martin features the manufacturer has ever created.

As if I had translated their press release to you, believe me, you wouldn't have heard so many dazzling adjectives when you met your current life partners in the first two weeks of the relationship. If you know what i mean... So let's rather focus on the facts.

Power and color

It is a Profile device, like its predecessor. Armed with a 760W LED engine with a native color temperature of 5800K. Here we have the first curiosity, as the chip consists of 55 pcs. 20W white LEDs. This is Martin's proprietary technology for the light source. The declared output of the engine is 28,000 lumens, so a little more than the original version.

In dynamic effects, we can find such features as CMY color mixing, an additional color dial with 5 filters and a "spectrum enhancing" filter, whatever that means. There was no lack of a macro channel for temperature control in the 5800K-2850K range.

Optics

From the 150mm front lens comes a beam with a variable zoom range of 5.7° - 51° with available autofocus. Of the classic effects, we have two interchangeable rotating gobo discs available. Also implemented is Martin's "Gobo Color Temperature" system, which significantly improves the power of the device, when applying gobos. And it actually works, I had the opportunity to see during the Stage Source meeting in Warsaw. To top it off, there is an animation dial, dual Frost (soft and hard), 4-arm rotating prism and Irirs.

As in a real Profile, there could be no shortage of cutters. Viper XIP is equipped with 4 pieces. Each of them rotates within +/- 30°, while we can rotate the entire cutting module within +/- 83°.

Segments in the Profile device?

We get several options for control, art-nets, RDM, sACN, that sort of thing. As with all new Martin devices, we can also connect under P3 videomapping in fixed and hybrid modes in which P3 takes control of color and intensity, and we have the rest under DMX.

In the manual we can find 3 DMX modes, where 54 and 64 channels are practically the same only with additional 16-bit channels. A novelty we have in the 70 channel mode - in which we get control over the light source in 6 segments. A rather new feature in a device of this type.

Also worth mentioning is the ability to communicate NFC with the device, which facilitates quick setup using Martin's dedicated app.

The whole thing is encased in a housing with proprietary XIP technology, which is supposedly IP54, but that's just a number - because the magic is behind the XIP name. The weight of the device oscillates around 36kg, so a compact it is not.

Summary

As for the feel itself, I saw the device shine live. I must point out that the stain was really even, even someone walked around with a colorimeter and checked the center with the edge. The dimmer descent was incredibly smooth. We went down in 30 seconds with 10% (if I remember correctly) and by the end you could see this gentle exit, without any steps.

While looking at the prototype, there was a problem with the temperature control motor on the gobo. When the gobos were fastened, the temperature of the beam changed to a warmer temperature. The manufacturer knew about it and assured that the problem had been eliminated. In the premiere version it was supposed to be gone. I believe them there, but have not checked.

For more information, of course, visit the manufacturer' s and distributor's websites.