Technology after technology.

Between 2022 and 2023, the Elation brand placed a very strong emphasis on differentiating itself from ADJ, despite being affiliated with the ADJ Group. During this time we got the "SOL" or KL series of devices, which by design were mid-rent devices.

The attempts that were made backfired, and the resulting devices further fell outside the budgets of most companies. The attempts looked a bit like Bugatti trying to make cars for the middle class.

In such a natural course, Elation continues to make devices that in most cases half of Europe won't be able to afford, but it also works on innovative technologies in lighting that significantly accelerate the market. What not to say every year we get some cool innovations and products from the American manufacturer that certainly inspire.

Paragon Series

I'll start with the freshest luminaire, the Paragon Profile, which was awarded for innovation during LDI2024. Available in two power versions, it is equipped with a white LED light source of 550W (S version) and 900W (M version), respectively. I will focus here on the "S" version, which could be of more interest to our market. As for the M'ka, it is larger, but the technologies and function are generally the same.

The compact 20kg guts (IP54) of the Paragon S house a disc-based CMY color mixing system, a CTO disc, 7 dichronic colors with a UV disc. It's worth mentioning TruTone technology, which gives us full control over our CRI from 72 to 93.(We initially wrote about it in this text.)

Motorized optics allow beam control in the range of 5° - 50° for the profile lens, which is standard. Why am I writing about it? Because we can optionally equip ourselves with a PC lens, the range of which will be 6° - 45° or Fresnel 8° - 50°. Here, depending on our preference for the cutoff field, the appearance of the lens itself, or the beam spread, we have quite a lot of freedom.

Classically for profile devices, 4 framing knives are available, with a full cutout for a single knife, indexing within +/-40° and rotation of the entire module +/-120°.

The rest are classics of the genre, namely two gobo dials, one interchangeable rotary and the other metal. An animation dial (interchangeable with a third fixed gobo dial), dual prism and dual Frost (soft and hard) round out the range of features.

Pulse series

This is Elation's answer to the market demand for devices such as LED strips and strobes. In the product range we can find such devices as classic strobe FX (Pulse Panel) and moving version (Pulse Panel FX). The Pulse Bar in the L and S versions are nothing more than the LED strips we know so well with a strobe bar in the middle.

Pulse Panel is equipped with 1152 pieces of 1.5W RGB LEDs divided into 24 sections. In addition, 432 pieces of 5W cold white LEDs for generating the strobe effect - divided into 48 control sections (12 sections each for the device's frame zones - top, bottom, and two sections around the small strobe bar in the middle). The last zone is the small RGB strip in the middle of the device, where each of the 96 control LEDs in 12 sections generates 1.5W/diode.

The FX-designated version is nothing more than the main unit mounted on a movable base, which gives us a 180° tiltci'e control, but also the possibility of infinite 360° rotation of the unit, and don't confuse it with panning here!

Fuze Teatro

The last device that caught my attention was not for its function, but for its design. We get a profile-type device based on a 480W full spectrum* RGBMA LED light source.

Classically, two gobo disks (one interchangeable), four framing blades with a rotation range of +/- 60°, dual Frost (soft and hard), two prisms, zoom from 7° - 50° and the aforementioned TruTone technology.

What is unique is the very design of the device, which is windless. The cooling of the device is 100% convectional which makes it achieve amazing results when it comes to generated noise. The generated noise when the LED module is lit and the device is left in one position is declared at 19dB(A). Generally you get louder with the windows closed in your apartment living on the outskirts of the city.

I must say that I think they are actually proud of their performance because I have never seen such accurate acoustic data when it comes to lighting devices. I recommend reading the document because it is really interesting. It was checked the generation for each available function in the device in 2 variants - ultra quiet mode and fastest responsiveness. You can see the document here.

Summary

Although Elation is unlikely to leapfrog ADJ in popularity in the semi-professional market as they once aspired to, they cannot be accused of inaction. Every year we get newer and more advanced technologies from the manufacturer. It is possible that some of them will one day set trends.