ETC’s DALI 2 Gateway and the End of 0 10V

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Welcome to the show, Lacey.
I want to start with the thing

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that is quietly dying in a lot
of North American buildings.

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Zero CU, 10V dimming and not
dead overnight.

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Not dramatic, but you can feel
the shift.

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For decades it was the default
because it was familiar, cheap

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enough, and it checked the code
compliance box.

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But now you've got LED
everywhere, clients asking for

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more flexibility, facility teams
wanting systems that still

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behave the same way 5 or 10
years later, and suddenly,

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because we've always done it
that way, is not much of an

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argument.
The 010V part is exactly where I

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think some people in our world
tune out because they hear

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numbers and go OK nerd corner.
But the five or ten years later

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point that hits in hospitality
especially, nobody wants a

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ballroom or corridor that dims
one way on opening day and then

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gets weird and patchy over time,
so ETC.

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Dropping this on 14th April 2026
feels like them saying hey the

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building side is catching up to
the fact that LEDs are digital

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whether your control philosophy
is or not.

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Exactly, and the product is ET
CS response Daily Gateway MK2.

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Very straightforward job.
It converts DMX or SACN to

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daily.
So if you already live in a DMX

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ish or networked control world,
this is the bridge into Dali.

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It's DIN mounted, which matters
because this is not some

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theatrical rack room diva.
It's meant to live neatly in an

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architectural electrical
environment, and each gateway

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supports 4 subnets, each with an
integrated bus power supply.

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Wait, 4 subnets with integrated
bus power in each one?

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That's the part facility people
are going to remember.

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Because integrated bus power
means one less external thing to

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wrangle, right?
Not magic, just fewer pieces,

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cleaner install, less of that
cabinet spaghetti that makes

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everybody grumpy.
Cabinet spaghetti, yes.

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Highly technical term, but yes.
The bigger idea here is less

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about 1 box and more about what
Dali is doing philosophically.

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ET CS release puts it pretty
cleanly.

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LE DS are digital devices and
Dali control acknowledges them

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for what they are.
With 010V you're basically

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sending a fluctuating voltage
and hoping every fixture

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responds nicely.
With daily, you're sending clear

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digital commands and the driver
handles the response

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consistently and predictably.
OK, let me try to explain it

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back and you tell me where I'm
mangling it.

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Zarcho 10V is sort of like
nudging a crowd and hoping

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everyone steps the same
distance.

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Dolly is more like saying you 3
go to exactly here.

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Is that too simplistic?
No, that's actually pretty good.

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Maybe a little brutal to 010V,
but fair.

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And that precision shows up in
the stuff people actually see

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better.
Low end, dimming, less flicker,

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colour temperature, staying more
consistent across long runs.

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That last one matters a lot more
than people think.

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Because if you've got a
corridor, lobby, airport zone,

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healthcare floor, whatever, and
one end feels cooler or visually

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off from the other, people may
not know why it looks bad, but

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they know it looks bad.
The long runs phrase from the

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release is the one that stuck
with me because that's not a lab

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demo.
That's real.

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Buildings, hallways, guest room
floors, office wings, and low

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end dimming.
Man, if you've ever been in a

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restaurant or event space where
the last 20% of dimming is just

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ugly, you don't forget it.
Smooth low end is one of those

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things nobody compliments out
loud, but everybody notices when

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it's missing, right?
Good control disappears, bad

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control becomes the story.
And dally to certification

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matters here because it adds a
layer of confidence.

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Not just we say it works, but
certification through third

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party verification.
That is huge when you're talking

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about systems that may outlive
the people who installed them.

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Somebody's got to maintain this
stuff years later.

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Which is why this announcement
feels timely, not flashy

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timeline.
Timely, practical, timely.

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Buildings are asking for smarter
operation.

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LE DS already want digital
control and ET CS basically

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saying here's a DIN mounted
bridge, 4 subnets, integrated

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power, web interface for setup
and status, and a certified way

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to stop pretending analog is
still the best answer for

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everything.
OK so if I'm the person signing

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checks I'm asking the annoying
question.

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Does daily actually save money
or is this one of those better

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in theory things where the
invoice still hurts good?

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Question ET CS point is that
daily drivers typically cost

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about the same as their zero to
10 V equivalents, so the savings

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aren't necessarily in the driver
itself.

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The savings are everything
around it.

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Fewer wires, less conduit, only
the control devices you actually

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need, and lower labor.
And the math gets better as the

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number of zones goes up.
Their release says a single

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daily control bus can support up
to 64 drivers and multiple

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control groups.
Up to 64 drivers on one control

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bus.
That's the number.

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That's where the zone complexity
part starts making sense to me,

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because once you get into a
hotel, residential, high rise

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school, or anything with a bunch
of spaces that want different

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behavior, the wiring alone can
become its own side quest.

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A miserable side quest.
Yes, and that's why ETC

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specifically calls out
hospitality spaces and

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residential high rises.
As zone counts increase, Dali

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becomes more cost effective.
Not because one magic line item

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drops to 0, but because
complexity stops multiplying

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your labor and material quite so
aggressively.

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I think people in production
sometimes forget how important

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labor is in permanent install
math.

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In live events, we'll throw
bodies at a problem for load in

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and then everybody goes home.
In a building.

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If your design creates extra
conduit runs and extra devices

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in every area, that cost doesn't
feel sexy, but it is very real.

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And the benefits keep going
after install.

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This is the part facility teams
will care about.

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Daily systems can report when a
driver goes offline or when a

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fixture fails, often before
anyone notices.

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In a large building, that
visibility saves time and

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labour.
You're not sending someone on a

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scavenger hunt through an office
tower or hospital wing trying to

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figure out which peace quietly
died.

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Offline driver reporting is such
an unglamorous phrase, but for

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an airport or healthcare
facility, that's money.

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If you know which driver is
offline, instead of dispatching

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somebody to wander around
ceiling by ceiling, that's

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operational value, not just
control geek value.

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Exactly, and then there's the
standards piece.

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Darley is an open protocol and
ETC emphasizes that all

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certified devices work with all
compliant controllers.

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Darley 2 certification adds more
confidence because of third

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party verification.
That matters because customers

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hate lock in.
Lighting systems should serve

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the building, not trap the
building.

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Serve the building, not entrap
it.

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That's probably my line of the
episode, because anybody who's

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inherited a system where only
one vendor's widget talks to one

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other vendor's widget knows how
ugly that gets.

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You're not buying a gadget,
you're inheriting a future

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maintenance relationship.
Yep.

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Now I do want to be careful
here.

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None of this means DMX goes
away, ETC, says it plainly.

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DMX continues to be essential
where speed and theatrical

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precision are required.
And thank goodness if I'm doing

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concert lighting, queue heavy
performance, rapid timing

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changes, that kind of snap and
precision DMX is still my

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language.
Right, Nobody wants a rock show

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run like a polite office
corridor.

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Different emotional needs.
Exactly, but in schools,

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airports, offices, healthcare
facilities, hospitality venues,

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those architectural and
commercial spaces, ETC.

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Lists Dali fits how buildings
are designed, installed and

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operated.
That's the divide.

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DMX for theatrical speed and
precision.

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Dali for digital building
friendly control when

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monitoring, grouping and long
term consistency matter.

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And maybe that's the real take
away.

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This isn't DMX versus Dali like
a cage match.

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It's more like knowing when you
need a race car and when you

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need a reliable fleet vehicle
with good diagnostics.

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If ET, CS Gateway helps more
people bridge from DMX or SACN

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into that Dolly World cleanly,
then the interesting question

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isn't whether the industry
changes, it's how many buildings

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are still going to choose analog
just because it feels familiar.

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Anyway, that's a pretty good
thing to chew on.

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Thanks, Chris.
Always a pleasure, see you next

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time.
Oh, you get it.

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You make the specs so clear.
Oh, la, la with music to your

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ears.
Hey, hey, hey.

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Let's go.
New gear, vibes, new tech jive.

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Your heads unite.
We keep it live.

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Oh, yeah.
The leaders gear.

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The leaders gear.
We got it here.

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Got it here.