By James Simpson
The Showtec Stage Blinder Flex Blaze is designed to fit between an established market of LED COBs, blinders and PARs. As the product’s manufacturer, Highlite has endeavoured to offer some USPs to help set the Flex Blaze apart from its competition. Here, we will look at what this product is, what you could use it for and how effective it is . . .
THE BASICS
The Stage Blinder Flex Blaze is a clever little COB-style PAR fixture built with eye candy in mind. In essence, it is an IP65rated mini PAR that is lightweight, clean and simple in design with an attractive lens for a beautiful glow effect. It has been designed to replicate the look and behaviour of a classic tungsten blinder, with attention to detail in the dimming and colour control to keep it consistent with this classic look.
The fixture comes as a single pod which connects to a power supply where you will find all the control, DMX, addressing, pre-set effects and cable entry points, which is also IP65-rated. Flex Blaze requires the use of Showtec’s own cable system to connect the units to the power supply. These are all also IP65rated and can be joined together to make longer runs where needed. Although ‘blinder’ is used in the product name, its potential applications range from creating decorative looks on stage, providing functional lighting in outdoor spaces, and allowing for easy setup in interior spaces for special events and parties.
It has two LED systems: one that can make it work as a traditional tungsten-equivalent blinder, and another that provides an RGB eye-candy background glow for creative looks.
The Flex Blaze package I was sent by Highlite for testing included a set of eight single pods with the PSU controller, but I am aware that there are alternative versions of this product that include integral DMX and power management for a single unit, as well as versions built into blinder frames in two- and four-unit configurations. Some of these units offer dual white LED and slightly less power, so it isn’t a like-for-like comparison, but you may well be interested in the entire range within the family of products as they might also serve your specific application.
Read the full review in Lighting & Sound International Magazine
www.highlite.com
Australian Distributor: Clearlight Shows www.clearlight.com.au
