DALI Protocol
DALI — Building Lighting Standard
DALI (Digital Addressable Lighting Interface, per IEC 62386) is the leading standard for commercial and architectural building lighting.
Key Characteristics
| Feature | Details |
|---|---|
| Standard | IEC 62386 |
| Physical | 2-wire bus (data + power, polarity-free) |
| Topology | Free-form (star, daisy, tree, mixed) |
| Max devices | 64 per bus segment |
| Max cable | 300m per segment |
| Power | Bus-powered (devices), up to 250W per PSU |
| Speed | 1.2 kbps (intentionally slow for reliability) |
DALI vs DMX
| Feature | DALI | DMX512 |
|---|---|---|
| Application | Architectural | Entertainment |
| Bidirectional | Yes | No (RDM adds this) |
| Addressing | Individual and groups | Universe + channel |
| Data rate | 1.2 kbps | 250 kbps |
| Wiring | 2-wire, any polarity | 3-wire (balanced) |
| Individual control | Yes (64 addresses) | Yes (512 channels) |
| Scene storage | Built-in (16 scenes per device) | No (console-driven) |