Vari-Lite, the industry pioneer in moving head lighting control and a Signify (Euronext: LIGHT) entertainment lighting brand, today announced Neo 4.1 software for all current and legacy Neo Series products. The new update brings features first seen on the Neo X Series consoles to the entire Neo family, eliminating the need to “unlock” universes and adding an updated user experience.
“The Vari-Lite Neo X5 and X15 consoles ship with the full 100 DMX universes possible by the hardware out of the box. Many consoles, including others in the Neo Series, require universe upgrades to ‘unlock’ the full capabilities of the hardware they have purchased,” explains Jon Hole, Global Product Manager, Vari-Lite Systems and Control at Signify. “This artificial software limitation requires costly upgrades or strange DMX addressing workarounds to ensure customers don’t use up the number of universes they have purchased.” With the new 4.1 update, all new and existing Neo Series consoles will offer the maximum number of universes possible in the console (10 universes for the Neo C10 Console, 100 universes for all other models) without the need to pay anything to “unlock” the console.
“The response to the Neo X Series has been very positive, with many customers taking a closer look at the powerful Neo platform,” says Hole. “While customers love the refined hardware in the new consoles, they also have given a lot of positive feedback to the improved user experience of the Neo 4 software. Many customers, particularly existing Neo customers, have been asking for the same improved UX/UI for the rest of the Neo product line. Neo 4.1 brings the docked window frames, modern look and feel and wide range of enhancements and bug fixes first seen on the Neo X Series to the rest of the Neo Series consoles.”
The console also brings a number of new enhancements to Neo’s powerful effects engine that will help live event operators when busking. “The Neo X Series has exposed many customers to all of the great live event control capabilities in the Neo software,” adds Hole. “To further expand Neo’s use in live busking, we looked at ways to help users make quick adjustments to multiple effects simultaneously ‘on the fly,’ adding effect master faders and other features to the software.”
In addition to these improvements, there have been over 125 other enhancements and bug fixes in Neo 4.1. The Neo 4.1 update is available on the Vari-Lite website.