Q. What products or services does your company offer?
Litepanels offers a wide variety of LED lighting solutions for broadcast television and motion picture production. We are most well-known for developing the first 1x1 LED panel, which revolutionized the lighting industry and is still popular today. But from those humble beginnings we have grown to offer a full line of LED fixtures for both studio and field applications. These include our line of Fresnels, which are branded under the “Sola” moniker for daylight color-balanced fixtures, and “Inca” for our tungsten color-balanced fixtures. We also offer high-power panel fixtures and a wide selection of small, but powerful, on-camera lights.
We became the leader in professional LED lighting by not only being first, but by setting the standard for light quality and reliability. Being born from professional gaffers, our background and experience in lighting have enabled us to take a fresh look at classic designs and push the envelope of what LED technology is capable of. We firmly believe that the future of lighting is in LED and we pride ourselves on being innovators that still design and manufacture from our home in Los Angeles, Calif.
Q. What do you anticipate will be the most significant technology trend at the 2013 NAB Show?
A. The trend of lower-cost cameras with higher sensitivity and greater resolution will undoubtedly continue. This ongoing trend has completely transformed our industry, greatly expanding the availability of high-quality production gear to a new generation of content producers. Combine this with an increasing number of distribution outlets and viewing devices, and you see that our industry will continue to grow, albeit in different directions.
Q. What’s new that you will feature at the NAB Show?
A. Our latest achievement is our new flagship models, the Sola 12 and Inca 12. Named for their 12-inch Fresnel design, they provide the light output of a traditional 2,000-watt incandescent fixture while only drawing a mere 350 watts, allowing several units to be plugged into a traditional household 20A circuit.
Along with the obvious energy efficiencies, there are also a number of practical advantages. Unlike traditional fixtures that emit more heat than light, the Sola and Inca 12 run cool to the touch. In studio applications, this greatly reduces not only the amount of electricity needed to power the lights, but also alleviates the amount of facility cooling required. When factoring in all of the numerous operational savings, these fixtures can pay for themselves in less than three years.
There are advantages for field production as well. Gone are the days of lugging heavy ballasts or requiring generator trucks to supplement the location power supply.
Q. How is your new product different from what’s available on the market?
A. The Sola 12 and Inca 12 are the first Fresnels to achieve this level of light output from an LED source. They offer all of the control and power of a large classic Fresnel, while providing the wraparound light quality and energy efficiency of LED. In the past, the criticism of LED was that although it produced a nice quality light, it did not have the big punch that was sometimes required. These lights are truly a groundbreaking advancement in LED technology in that they challenge conventional wisdom of what professionals believe LED can do.
Q. What is it about the NAB Show that brings you back every year?
A. There is no doubt that NAB Show remains the premier venue for following the latest in media technology, so it is an obvious choice for Litepanels to premier their latest technical breakthroughs. As an exhibitor, it provides a unique opportunity to interact with customers from all over the globe as well as stay current with media and technology trends. Despite the sore feet and the great cuisine at the LVCC, I still look forward to it every year.
