# LED strobe lights for live use



## on the run (May 30, 2010)

Hey guys,
My band is looking to start purchasing some lights for our live shows, with the eventual goal of controlling them all off a laptop via midi (we already use ableton for all our tracks). The first thing we are looking at is a strobe light, and are considering LED strobes after seeing a few disastrous shows where bands have been using 3000W strobe lights and they've just blown the entire circuit leading to no power on stage..

But I am still hesitant about whether an LED strobe will really cut it. How would their brightness compare to a proper super powerful strobe light, like a 3000watt one. I'm of the opinion they need to be super bright to be effective, and to get the strobe 'look' so yeah, would one like this:

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/LEDBURST1500...J_Gear_Lighting_Equipment&hash=item20af9ba212

for eg work effectively (considering a lot of the venues we play are reasonably well lit as well, it's not gonna be pitch black).
Cheers


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## IMSabbel (May 30, 2010)

If you are talking about "real" strobes, i.e. xenon discharge lamps, then you will be dissappointed by LEDs.

Those strobes can push an enourmous amount of lumen during their short flashes.
LEDs, on the other hand, cannot really be overdriven that much in short pulses, so there is not much gain compared to the always on situation.

The strobe you linked to is crap even for LEDs. You might get 1500lumen CW out of it. If you make the strobes short enough to really freeze any action, it wont have any oomf at all. On a reasonably well illuminated stage, such a strobe might be just noticeable.


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## hamilton (May 30, 2010)

As a lighting designer and technician for theatre and concerts, I can tell you the ouput from that will be negligible against other stage lights. It lists its rated power at 30 watts, so let's be generous and say that it is 5 times more efficient then tungsten. That gives you output equivalent to a 150 watt floodlight (the kind you would find in one of these. http://www.americandj.com/ProductDetails.aspx?ItemNumber=1600&MainId=2&Category=Stand_Systems)

In other words, very little effect to the audience. You would either need several of them, or a more powerful 
LED strobe light. If you're going to go the route of using several strobes (which, it should be noted, can make absolutely beautiful and incredible effects), go small. Get a good deal of 50w strobes and scatter them around the stage.

If you're willing to leave the world of LEDs behind, something like this would be enough oomph for any band. http://www.americandj.com/ProductDetails.aspx?ItemNumber=1483&MainId=2&Category=Strobes

Unfortunately, stage lighting manufacturers are still on the cusp of making LED lights that are a true replacement to tungsten/xenon/discharge.

One last note: Ask yourself, do you really need a strobe? You obviously know your show and audiences better than I do, but in my experience, a band that has invested in strobes, effects units, foggers and the like could have spent the money much more effectively on a cohesive stage show, with some PAR bars, and perhaps a scanner or two.


James


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## LEDAdd1ct (May 30, 2010)

I don't have the same technical background as many other folks on this forum, but I can say without a doubt that a strobe populated with 5mm diodes is decidedly _not_ the way to go.


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## blasterman (May 30, 2010)

Another problem with LED strobes is the circuit is rather slow unlike a conventional Xenon capacitor discharge.

If you were to use a cap based discharge on a pile of 3watt white LEDs it would actually work pretty good. However, telling a regulated circuit to shut on and off really fast doesn't do the job well.


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## IMSabbel (Jun 1, 2010)

Nah, the circuit is NOT a problem by itself. Its trivial to make a power led pulse of less than 100us. I mean, every XP-G in a preon does it.

BUT it will just make the flash too weak. Eyes are integrating, and Xenon flashes are bright because they are pushing into the million lumen range during those short flashes. In order for LEDs not to look totally dim they usually are flashed with a much higher duty cycle.


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