Have you ever wanted to recreate the lighting effects from your favourite bar or nightclub in your own home? Perhaps you would like to synchronise your Colour Changing RGB LED Tape with music? This can all be accomplished with DMX.
DMX, or "Digital Multiplex," is an industry standard for digital communication that was first developed in 1986 to control light dimmers. Overtime it has been developed for use with a range of different lighting and effects equipment including smoke/fog machines, stage lights and rotational lamps, and is used to create most of the visual light displays at gigs and festivals.
A complete DMX system consists of a DMX controller which is connected by a length of communications cable to a device. A controller can be anything which is compatible with the communication cable, such as a computer, laptop, mixing desk, wall plate or even a microphone. For instance, a light technician can use a microphone to make the lighting on a stage noise activated and to synchronise it with the beat of a drum.
The DMX controller uses an 8-bit language similar to that used by computers when they "speak" to their peripheral units, such as mice and keyboards.
The correct technical designation for DMX, is DMX "512." The number 512 refers to the number of "channels," or control options, available from a single DMX port, also known as a "universe." The number of ports/universes available differs depending on the DMX controller, but in theory it is possible to have an unlimited number of ports, and therefore an unlimited number of channels.
Channels are assigned to devices and are used to control a single attribute of that device, such as speed, brightness or movement. For instance, the channel on a mixing desk can be used to control the colour, brightness, pattern or speed of an LED Strip Lights, all of which can be controlled by a separate channel.
One of the benefits of DMX is that these individual attributes can be controlled independently of all other attributes, which enables a user to programme their lights with more precision and according to their own preferences.
The most common cables used with DMX systems are CAT5 and RS485, both of which are able to carry the DMX protocol/signal.
Most domestic DMX installations are a very simplified version of the commercial stage setups used at concerts or theatres, where a mixing desk is replaced by a basic wall plate and DMX driver combination. The "dip switches" on the DMX driver are set to "on" and the LED Tape lights are manipulated using the settings on the wall plate.
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