FUTURETECH Featuring ETC - ETC's MegaPix and GigaPix Break Down

0:19 All right, folks, welcome back to another episode of Geezers of Gear. Future Tech Chris here, And as always, Lacey's keeping me honest. On the other mic. Today we're digging into ET, CS, New Megapix and Gigapix, and I'll just say straight away, these things are not your old school fresnels. Yeah. I mean, I know a bit about Fresnels, mostly from hauling dusty old ones around for years, honestly. But this IFL system, the integrated Fresnel lens, it's not just a marketing line, right? No, not at all. The IFL is really clever. It's a segmented lens system, so you get that proper smooth edge to edge projection. All the goodness of a classic Fresnel, but with real power for modern stages and the zoom. 4.5° to 50° wide on the Megapix and up to 55° on the Gigapix. You're getting a crazy flexible wash range. Let's drop the numbers quick for folks. So Megapix clocks in at what, 10,000 lumens and weighs just over 9 kilos?

1:16 That's spot on. 9.2 kilograms if we're being precise. And yeah, 10,000 lumens. Then Gigapix is the beefier big sibling, 15 kilos and it pops out 17,000 lumens. So you can really scale depending on venue size or how dramatic you need your washes. Both hit that 4.5° tight beam, but Gigapix has a touch wider Max zoom at 55. This new IFL lens on the Megapix and Gigapix specifically built to stop that fogging so your beams actually stay sharp show after show. So let's talk about this RGBL engine and the colour range. Yeah, it's night and day, honestly. ETC whipped up this 2000 to 10,000 Kelvin color temp channel.

1:58 And I mean, you can run the whole spectrum without losing intensity. Never dips under 80%. Plus, because it's built by their color scientists, you're scoring AP1TM30 rating, which basically means any color you mix is beautiful to the eye all the way down the channel. All right, TMI moment when I hear TM 30 my brain just folds. But from what I remember from a previous episode, that's like the gold standard for how good a color looks, right? You got it. Think of it as does this look good for real people and on camera And with these the answer is yes. The real win is how they engineered the dimming too. Super smooth so you don't see steps or flicker as you fade in and out.

2:39 If you care about seamless transitions or video, that matters a ton. What about the effects stuff? I saw macros and cell control and it lost me a bit. Is that just for pixel mapping or? It's way more versatile than just pixel mapping. The inclusive macros are ready made color runs, or you can use flex macros if you want to build your own looks. And then every single pixel face can be run modularly via Arnet or SACN so you get wild detail if you want it. There's this Halo graphic pixel definition trick. Basically it gives each face a diffused outline so your pixel effects don't look harsh. Sort of a soft focus border between cells and it really pops on stage.

3:20 Honestly, if calibration holds up, like if what you program on one fixture matches across dozens, I can see LDS finally breathing easy. That's a massive headache on big arena tours, especially if you're out for months and have dozens of units. Anything that saves them time, grief, or bland looking washes is an upgrade in my book. Absolutely. And it's that consistency. No more guessing or compensating for colour drift show after show. That's something we talked about when looking at the F Drive RX a few episodes back. Actually. Control systems are finally catching up with designer demands. Right, so colour dimming, effects, it all feels pretty set up for the realities of what crews wrestle with in the field now. But Speaking of realities, sometimes the gig is in a field, sometimes it's in a theatre, sometimes it's wherever there's power and a stage.

4:13 That flexibility brings us to what I'm most curious about. All right, explain the IP 44 thing to me. IP54 means these are protected against dust and water splashes from all directions. It's not fully waterproof like IP65, but for anything short of a hurricane, you're golden. For summer theatre, open air, concerts, festivals, this rating means you're not scrambling to bag your fixtures every time the weather turns sketchy. It really frees up your design choices when you're not panicked about your gear shorting out in the rain. What I love is the IFL system even makes maintenance easier since there's less fogging and dust inside and you don't need a special vacuum seal. When you open these up, you just clean, close and go.

4:57 That's fast Turn around. And ETC support actually lives up to the hype right 24/7 every day of the year, plus those long warranties. Yep, 2 year warranty for the fixture, five years for the LED's heart and someone always picks up the phone that's not some during business hours only kind of deal. Likewise, Chris. Thanks for listening everyone. We'll catch you on the next one. Music to your ears. Hey, hey, hey.

5:39 Let's go. New gear vibes, new tech jive gearheads unite. We keep it live.