Seachanger, the color mixing engine that you attach to a Source Four ellipsoidal, has just announced that they are selling a high-output color engine that runs on a LIFI lamp.  LIFI - I blogged about this a few days ago, but it means “Light Fidelity.”  It’s a high output lamp, very efficient, and uses plasma.

Plasma.  The NEMO is 83 lumens per Watt.  EIGHTY THREE.
Did I mention 83 lumens per Watt?  NEMO outputs 15,000 lumens on a mere 180W of power.

The Seachanger NEMO, from older posts I made about the regular spot and wash units, is also the kind of unit where you attach a Source Four barrel to the device and go.  NEMO is basically an HID source (in output terms) for a Source Four - like the Mole Richardson lamp units for the Source Four.  All of the same filters and xG (extreme green) stuff come with the NEMO.

From the product page:

Say hello to Nemo, the latest in the SeaChanger range designed to deliver a new class of high-intensity lighting.

Nemo is the first ETC Source Four® compatible color engine with a LIFI® plasma source that delivers 15,000 lumens on a modest 180 watts of power. That’s over 6 times the efficiency of comparable color engines.

The SeaChanger Nemo uses existing ETC Source Four front-end barrels as well as an assortment of ETC FOV optics. It comes equipped with SeaChanger’s own Extreme Green wheel that extends the CMY color gamut to create more dramatic, vibrant colors.

Because of its lamp life, Nemo is the perfect solution for hard-to-reach installations, domes, atria and theme parks. It bridges the gap between incandescent and LED lighting at a price that’s within reach.

Go efficient. Go Green. Go Nemo!

Have you heard of or seen the videos of the new “plasma” light sources that are out there?  People are talking about LIFI lamps and sources, and how many lumens per watt can be had with these new jewels.  Check out this video:

LIFI:  “Light Fidelity.”  LIFI lamps do not use a series of electrodes to attach to a filament to bring the lamp to a point where the source emits light.  Instead, a RF source is focused and pointed at a little column in the lamp, the plasma column, which then makes the lamp emit an intense, high output light.  We’re talking about having a little tiny source that can output 20K lumens.  The operating costs are significantly lower because of the technology that “plasmafies” the lamp itself, which requires a lot less electricity to operate the RF generator.

What about color rendering?  How white is the LIFI source?

LUXIM, the company who is pioneering this technology, has the following chart on their website:

Look at that first figure - 120 lumens per watt.  CRI of 80 (96 on the next model up), and 30,000 hours of operating life.  If you know about CRI and color rendering, you know that 100 is the best score, referring to a black-body radiator.  The STA-40-02 model renders at 96.

Luxim also makes LIFI lamps for entertainment purposes - one of their lamps runs at 7500°K, the other at 5600°K - both have a CRI of above 91, and both have 20,000 hours of life.  These lamps operate under 10A and run on around 28V - heat is lower, energy consumption is lower, which allows this source to be jammed into the back of a moving head without worry of overtemp.  According to Luxim, these lamps are also vibration resistant and rugged - all solid state components.

Do you have any experience with these sources?  Luxim people, do you read my blog?  Please post in the comments.