Hawthorne,
CA, USA -- Fulham Co., Inc., a leading supplier of lighting
components and electronics for commercial and specialty applications,
has released a new white paper that discusses the limitations
surrounding 0-10V luminaire dimming and the benefits of adopting open
digital standards to promote universal lighting compatibility. The
white paper, entitled "Next-Gen Digital Dimming and the
Shortcomings of 0-10V," describes the pitfalls of trying to
retrofit luminaires with incompatible dimming curves and how the
emergence of new digital control and communications platforms extends
lighting controls beyond simple dimming.
To
date, there has been no universal standard for 0-10V dimming in LED
luminaires. As a result, LED drivers from different vendors have
different dimming characteristics; a 5V signal could result in a
dimming profile of 50, 80, or 30 percent, depending on the
manufacturer. Similarly, at 0V some LED drivers will turn power off,
while others may dim from 1 or 10 percent. Non-standard dimming
drivers also can overload a lighting system, tripping a circuit
breaker or creating a catastrophic driver failure.
Lighting
control systems such as DALI, Bluetooth mesh, and Zigbee address this
lack of common dimming standards by taking advantage of embedded
software support in LED components. Intelligent LED drivers can be
grouped and programmed to accommodate changes and incompatibilities
in dimming profiles, including making changes and upgrades
automatically. In addition, polarity is not an issue with digital
control systems, which makes digital luminaires easier to wire and
scale.
More
importantly, where most dimming protocols are unidirectional, issuing
instructions with no means to verify response, digital control
systems provide two-way communications to show the status and health
of each switch, sensor, and luminaire. In addition, lighting
manufacturers are finding that digital LED controls lend themselves
to wireless connectivity, eliminating the need for extensive
retrofits or additional control wiring.
"We
released this white paper to show the industry what we see coming in
digital lighting and open control standards," said Russ Sharer,
Vice President of Global Marketing for Fulham. "Digital controls
not only make it easier to mix and match lighting systems, but
ensures faster and more trouble-free installations."
Fulham
has already demonstrated interoperability of digital control systems
over a Bluetooth mesh wireless infrastructure, as well as delivering
power and control to luminaires using Power over Ethernet (PoE). New
programmable, digital LED components that are Bluetooth-mesh and PoE
compatible will become commercially available later this year.
For
more information and a copy of Fulham's white paper, "Next-Gen
Digital Dimming and the Shortcomings of 0-10V," visit
http://www.fulham.com/resource-center.
About
Fulham
Fulham
Co., Inc. is a leading global provider of intelligent,
socially-conscious sustainable commercial lighting components and
electronics for use in commercial general lighting, parking
structure, signage, horticultural, UV and other applications. The
company develops and manufactures a variety of award-winning LED and
emergency products, as well as legacy products across multiple
lighting platforms. Fulham sells its lighting solutions worldwide
through original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and electrical
equipment distribution channels. Headquartered in Hawthorne, Calif.,
the company has sales and/or manufacturing facilities in the
Netherlands, China, India and the UAE. For more information, visit
http://www.fulham.com,
@FulhamUSA or @FulhamEurope.
Media
Contact:
Andy
Firchau
Marketing
Manager
Fulham
Co., Inc.
Phone:
+1 (323) 779-2980, ext. 1252
