Philips Selecon - An Educated Choice for CUADC

"I had recently used the Philips Selecon PLCyc fixtures on the Cambridge University European Theatre Group's (CUETG) production of 'A Merchant of Venice'," explains Clarke "I really liked them. I was particularly impressed with the seamless and intense washes of colour they offered and which I used on the all-important cyclorama that transformed every venue on the tour. So successful was the show lighting that our theatre, the ADC, is now considering purchasing twelve PLCycs for its own stock!"

Following his creatively liberating experience Clarke says he was keen to get his hands on other fixtures in the PL range and in particular the Philips Selecon PL3 Wash lights. He says he has not been disappointed: "Although we are a student group our aim is always to stage professional standard productions." An audience in excess of 2,000 saw the show over the period of the run.

"I was delighted to discover that the PL3s could offer us so many creative choices, which simply would not have been possible with our existing stock. Scenes were transformed by the unlimited colour options. The smooth live fades between one colour and another ensured that each lighting change perfectly complemented each change in mood, place and time in the show."

"I am delighted Mitchell enjoyed using the PL3s as much as he did the PLCyc units," continues Amber Tomlin, key account manager in the UK for Philips Entertainment. "It's always great to get positive feedback and even more fantastic that the ADC Theatre is now considering buying a number of the PLCycs. Both the PLCYC and the PL3s have received much praise for their clean, colour-balanced whites and the extensive range of beautiful colours, including those all-important really subtle tints. This makes them ideal for pretty much any entertainment application from film studio to theatre and architectural to museum and exhibition lighting.

"A great benefit of the whole PL range to education and cost conscious venue is the long life of the LED engines," continues Tomlin. "They can dramatically reduce maintenance costs and of course consumable costs such as gel and lamps come in at a big fat nothing! This, combined with the energy savings they deliver, means that budget conscious venues will quickly benefit from the low total cost of ownership."

From subtle tints to strident saturated colours the colour mixing capability of the PL Range is complemented by three 'white' presets (Warm White, Cool White, Daylight) to assist with matching to a venues existing light sources.

The Philips Selecon PL3 wash luminaire features a powerful variable beam (15°-55°) and delivers light levels in 'warm tungsten white' with an output similar to that of a 1.2kW Fresnel and at higher colour temperatures considerably more, all with a power consumption of only 400 watts and the motorised beam control really speeds up focus sessions.

CUADC is the resident company and owner of the ADC Theatre and operates entirely for the benefit of students in Cambridge. The company aim to provide as many opportunities for students to get involved in performance as possible. All its shows are produced, directed, designed, created and performed exclusively by students and range from one-night stands to month long runs in Edinburgh.

Philips Entertainment Lighting accommodates a diverse range of entertainment applications including: stage and set lighting, film and broadcast lighting, and video-based effects and displays. It also supports architectural lighting of performance venues, whether to enhance theatre lobbies or to create a dynamic exterior effect to coincide with performances.

With the acquisitions of Color Kinetics, Genlyte (including its Vari-Lite and Strand Lighting brands) and Selecon, Philips dramatically expanded its entertainment lighting portfolio from specialty lamps to the industry-leading luminaries and control systems that are prevalent in the field today. Collectively, the group provides wide-ranging products from simple lamps to complete solutions designed with the specific needs of the entertainment market in mind.