DMX 512
Kathy Quinlan's DMX 512 page.
DMX 512 is the entertainment industry protocol for controlling lighting. DMX 512 can control Dimmers, Scanning lights, Strobes, Smoke machines etc. The uses for DMX 512 are only limited by your imagination. DMX 512 works by sending up to 512 channels of 8 bit digital data, this means each channel can have a value between 0 and 255, which represents 0 to 100%. Each piece of equipment can use as many channels as it needs.
DMX 512 can be generated in many different ways, from a PC, A digital lighting desk, or an adopter for the older analog lighting desks.
Each DMX 512 segment can have up to 32 devices connected, if more than 32 devices are needed then you will need to use an opto isolated line driver, basically this unit receives the data from the lighting desk as one of the 32 devices, and buffers, isolates and retransmits all 512 channels out. These Isolator boxes can have any number of isolate outputs, each being able to drive a further 32 devices.
DMX 512 might at first sound a bit daunting, but rest assured once you get into the swing of things, it is very easy to play with. We can interface just about anything at a component level, a small list includes :
Servo Motors
Triac's for ON / OFF switching or Dimming
Relays for ON / OFF switching
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