Moving Head Fixtures
Moving Head Fixtures
Moving heads are motorized lighting fixtures that can pan, tilt, and change color/gobo/zoom — all controllable via DMX.
Types
| Type | Best For | Beam Angle | Key Feature |
|---|---|---|---|
| Beam | Concert, truss | 2-5° | Tight, intense beam |
| Spot | Theatre, events | 5-30° | Gobos, framing |
| Wash | Architectural | 10-60° | Even color wash |
| Hybrid | Multi-purpose | Zoom 3-50° | Beam + Spot + Wash |
Typical DMX Channel Map (16-channel mode)
| Channel | Function |
|---|---|
| 1 | Pan (0-255 = 540°) |
| 2 | Pan fine (16-bit) |
| 3 | Tilt (0-255 = 270°) |
| 4 | Tilt fine (16-bit) |
| 5 | Dimmer |
| 6 | Shutter / Strobe |
| 7 | Color wheel |
| 8 | Color wheel fine |
| 9 | Gobo wheel |
| 10 | Gobo rotation |
| 11 | Prism |
| 12 | Prism rotation |
| 13 | Frost |
| 14 | Zoom |
| 15 | Auto programs |
| 16 | Reset / DMX address |
LED vs Discharge
| Feature | LED Moving Head | Discharge (MSD/Arc) |
|---|---|---|
| Warm-up | Instant | 1-5 minutes |
| Lamp life | 50,000h | 2,000-6,000h |
| Color mixing | RGB/CMY | CMY usually |
| Brightness | Good (improving) | Very high |
| Power | Lower | Higher |
| Cost | Higher upfront | Lower upfront |