LED control gear
The ability to specify and develop the right control gear is an essential part of ERCO´s competence in optoelectronics. Control gear precisely tuned to each individual LED module transforms the mains voltage into direct current at the appropriate voltage and constant current. Different dimming methods are used for LEDs, depending on their application. Through the factory encoding of the control gear, ERCO´s DALI-compatible LED luminaires offer plug and play connectivity for user-friendly commissioning. The control gear of varychrome LED luminaires is programmed with an electronic colour compensation factor to allow for the manufacturing tolerances of LEDs.
Because ERCO develops its own in-house control gear, compact and specific solutions are possible that optimally fit the luminaire design.
Control gear for LED recessed luminaires For optimal product performance, it makes sense to provide LED recessed luminaires that include control gear precisely tailored to the luminaire. ERCO´s LED recessed luminaires are usually available in three versions: as DALI-controlled Light Clients, with control gear dimmable through trailing edge technology, or with switchable control gear.
Dimming on the spotlight ERCO´s LED spotlights can be dimmed in various ways to ensure efficient visual comfort. The versions featuring electronic control gear developed by ERCO have an integrated potentiometer to adjust the luminous flux precisely and individually.
Dimming via circuit or DALI ERCO´s LED spotlights with potentiometer can also be controlled using external trailingedge dimmers. This makes them ideal for an energy-efficient renovation of existing lighting installations which are equipped with this widely used dimmer technology. Alternatively, many ERCO LED spotlights are also available as DALI-compatible Light Clients.
Control gear encoding
One of the key features of ERCO´s Light Clients, i.e. DALI-compatible luminaires, is their factoryencoded DALI control gear. It enables the fully automatic recognition of all Light Clients installed in a Light System DALI installation to provide real plug and play connectivity. This advantage comes in useful particularly for varychrome RGBW luminaires: The manual assignment of four colour channels to DALI addresses is no longer necessary, as the varychrome RGBW LED control gear comply with the standardised DALI type and therefore only require one DALI address in spite of having four control channels. ERCO´s DALI control gear is encoded with an article and serial number along with other characteristics of the luminaire. The Light System DALI installation recognises the code, which is displayed in the Light Studio software together with the appropriate control elements: Optionally, a colour circle (which will be familiar to users of previous RGB varychrome luminaires) or a slider control to regulate the colour of white along the Planckian locus from cool to warm. Encoding ERCO´s DALI control gear therefore is the key to an efficient installation of lighting systems with RGBW LED technology as well as their safe commissioning and user-friendly operation.
Coding for greater user comfort The Light Clients are encoded with a unique code in the DALI control gear. When powering up the system, the Light System DALI automatically recognises the luminaire type and provides the relevant information and functions.
Encoding and checking In addition to the article information, the software also writes the individual compensation factors into the respective control gear as per the measurements for colour compensation. This is an important aspect for achieving perfect lighting quality with RGBW LED luminaires.
Electromagnetic compatibility Conversion to electromagnetic energy takes place through the control gear. For this reason all luminaires undergo an electromagnetic compatibility analysis at the design stage to ensure that they do not unintentionally influence other devices with electronic components.
Colour compensation with varychrome LED luminaires
Due to the manufacturing process, LEDs vary in terms of their luminous flux and dominant wavelength. Even with ERCO´s stringent specifications for the selection by binning and consistent DALI control values, it is possible that the light colours produced by RGB colour mixing can deviate visibly from one luminaire to the next. To ensure colour constancy, each colour compensated ERCO luminaire is individually measured and adjusted in the factory. Special software calculates the compensation factors which are permanently stored in the control gear. The user is therefore provided with lighting tools that always reproduce exactly the same colour of light.
The human eye is capable of noticing even the slightest deviations in hue.
The advantage of colour compensation with varychrome luminaires is therefore particularly useful in applications requiring high consistency, such as coloured wallwashing.
By using dedicated PCB layouts equipped with carefully selected LED binnings, ERCO ensures that optimum luminous flux and colour rendition is obtained for each specific lighting task.
The optical systems for LED lighting tools are vastly different from those of conventional luminaires. ERCO designs and builds these systems in-house to ensure a perfect match, thereby allowing their full potential to be exploited in terms of efficiency and lighting quality.
ERCO places particular importance on heat management. This ensures that LED modules operate within their safe temperature range, achieving rated life and output for the specified power throughout their operational life.
LEDs require perfectly matching electronic control gear. The development of electronic modules in-house gives ERCO freedom in designing the form and function of innovative lighting tools.
LEDs and digital lighting controls such as Light System DALI are truly made for each other. No other light source can be controlled as flexibly and efficiently as an LED. The user-friendly operation through lighting control allows great scope to design scenographic lighting in the sense of "tune the light", this enables the potential energy saving to be fully realised.
