Fixture Problem: Chauvet Colordash par quad 18

Hello Matthew,

This sounds like an odd sort of problem. If you open up the Color controls (Tab 28) you'll probably either see a cone of color or a circle of color. Either way, if you select one of those lights and then poke around that color space, do you find that every color is "off" by the same amount? Or are the differences more obvious in some colors than others? Do all the fixtures give the same color when you control them all at the same time, or do they each produce a different color?

It would be good to make sure that the lights are in the same mode that you've chosen at the lightboard - it looks like they could be 4channel, 6channel, or 10channel. So, it could be possible that the lightboard thinks they're in 6channel mode, but they're really in 10-channel, and are overlapping one another. That 10-channel mode also has a Color Mix option, so if you're using it, you probably want it to be set to "Normal" to start with.

I've also heard of customers with similar symptoms, and sometimes it's because those lights are accidentally being controlled from two sources - maybe the lightboard, plus an architectural system with buttons on the wall, for instance. Or, a system where there are two lightboards, one for conventional lights and a second for moving lights. So, if you have a system like that, try unplugging or turning off the non-Element source and see if they start working normally.

If you're really in a bind, please feel free to call your local ETC Technical Support for assistance.

We have captured some colour mixing data for the Chauvet Colordash Par Quad 18.
Chauvet do not calibrate these fixtures to make them match each other, so it is quite possible that the sample fixture we measured produced notably different colours to an "average" one.

Try patching it as a Chauvet Colordash Par Quad 7.
This fixture is identical in DMX functionality, however I believe that it has not been colour-captured at the present time.

Please let us know what you find!

Thank you both for your replies, I am thankful for them being very fast!

We have done some in-house testing too - the Chauvets do not seem to have the same Colour shift issues when attached to a Zero88 Board (a board with no colour profiling/personalities capabilities) - which with the same number values does not seem to have an issue with colour shift. I will try using the other Chauvet Par profile for the board, to see if that fixes the colour shift issue. I have an hour before rehearsals tomorrow - I will add that to my check list of things to do! Unfortunately I do not think they will provide me with cake for fixing this, I will have to ask!

Thank you again for your help and I will have a look tomorrow,

Matthew

Hey Matt,

Thank you for the fast reply, I am sorry for not replying on the day, I didn't check my inbox then!

I see the circle of colour, and it looks like all of the colours are a bit pinky compared to what they should be - I am not the best at judging it but that is what it looks like to my untrained eye! It does look like similar amounts too, and all the lights are the same colour when controlled. This is what made me think it was something to do with the board and not faulty lights, as we have 6 of them running and they are all identical.

I knew there was something that I forgot to put in! They are all running in 4ch mode, I will update my post with that information.

I have checked on schematics and there is only the board connected to the lights, it runs through a Swisson DMX Isolator/Splitter and then straight to the light trusses - nothing in the middle. That would have made sense though!

Thank you for your help, I will message back when I have had chance to check the provided ideas,

Matthew Smith

I have checked all of the ideas, and unfortunately none of ideas work. Both of the fixture profiles have the same issue - both have the same pink hue that makes me think that neither of them are colour profiled

I patched all 4 channels of the light onto 4 dimmer channels, and at 100 they all have the same pink hue. This further makes me think that the light doesn't have colour profiles.

I have no idea on how to do this from here - what should I do next?

Many Thanks,

Matthew Smith

Thanks - the "Patched as dimmers" proves that this is a "feature" of the fixture itself.
- It simply is that pink at maximum brightness (all emitters at full).

Unfortunately the vast majority of LED luminaires give a Pink or Blue hue with RGB(A) @ Full.
- In some cases it is very pink or blue, that is usually because the fixture was designed for maximum brightness, not a useful white!

While ETC consoles have a very advanced colour control system that is able to correct for this, it is only possible if:

1. We have measured the colour output of a median-sample of the fixture type.
   and:
2. The fixture's colour output is sufficiently consistent between batches.

- If the fixture manufacturer doesn't tightly control the colour output between batches, very few batches of fixtures will give good results.
Eg the light you already own will be good, the light you buy tomorrow may not.

Colour measurement has to be done at one of our factories, as the measurement apparatus is quite large and complex.

If you would like us to measure your fixtures, then you can contact your local ETC Tech Service to arrange it. You would need to ship a pair of sample fixtures to us, we will then measure them and update the data in the fixture database.

That said, as these have already been measured before, it is possible that this fixture is simply not manufactured to tight enough tolerances for the colour measurement to be worthwhile.

In the meantime, I would highly recommend recording a "White" Color Palette for these, and perhaps using that as the Home Preset.

Thanks Richard,

Unfortunately due to the nature of the position that the lights are in, it is impossible for me to take down the lights and send them in for calibration. We will talk to the company that carried out the installation to see if they can replace them with another set of pars that doesn't have the colour shift issue.

Thank you for the tip with the colour palette, I will do that next time I am there.

Thank you both for your help,

Matthew Smith