DALI (Digitally Addressable Lighting Interface) is the international standard of connecting lighting fixtures (ballasts) on a two wire interface network. It is beginning to be used extensively in the field of ‘architectural’ lighting for its ease of installation and control. Compared to DMX512, DALI is a very slow protocol. However offices and shopping centres have little need to run high speed chases or ten cuts a second light changes so for these installations DALI is an ideal solution. Increasingly in ‘architectural’ lighting what were once termed as ‘theatrical lighting’ DMX512 fixtures are also being used, led lights, moving lights etc. Up to now the two could not be mixed but now they can.
The DALI protocol (or Digital Addressable Lighting Interface) has become a standard in architectural lighting. It offers numerous advantages over the older DSI protocol or analogue cabling.
However DALI controllers tend to be limited as to control features and as a result more installations have become DMX/DALI hybrids. This offers the control of the DMX lighting desk and the flexibility of DALI. As a result XTBA introduced the DMX to DALI interface card which has been 'interfacing' in numerous venues around the world.
However what DALI does not offer is speed. If DMX is at walking pace DALI moves with the speed of an 'arthritic ant carrying heavy shopping'. If you are not in a hurry to do fast fades DALI offers reliable data communications. It is simple to cable, almost any two wires will do. It would probably work down damp string – but don't try that at home. It can be split without the need for a data splitter, fixtures do not need to be wired in series and ballasts are relatively cheap. So to install a large lighting system using DALI ballasts is going to be a good deal simpler and cheaper than using analogue ballasts or DMX (if anybody makes one) ballasts.
In addition to the popular DMX to DALI card, XTBA now offers a range of three DMX to DALI converters and a DALI to DMX converter. All housed in DIN rail cases for easy installation.
XTBA has redesigned and updated our range of DMX to DALI and DALI to DMX products.
The range now includes:
- DMX to DALI - PCB
- DMX to DALI - DIN Rail
- DALI to DMX 64 channel - DIN Rail
- DMX to Fast DALI 64 channel - DIN Rail
- Full DMX to DALI 8 x 8 - DIN Rail
DMX to DALI Converter - Card
The XTBA DMX to DALI card will translate 64 channels of DMX up to 64 channels of the DALI protocol. The unit can be addressed anywhere in the DMX stream via the bcd address switches. The unit will also allow manual control of any and all DALI channels to allow for on site testing without the need for DMX control. In addition the converter will allow the user to program the DALI address of any DALI unit making installation of a complete system simple as all functions can be controlled from one card. The converter is mains powered and connections by push terminals so installation is made as simple as possible.
DMX to DALI - 64 channel DIN Rail
The XTBA DMX to DALI 64 channel converter offers a one to one level conversion between DMX and DALI .The start address of the 64 DMX channels to be converted is set from the PCB mount code switches. In addition as DALI ballasts do not have address switches they need to be programmed. The XTBA card can be set up to program the ballast’s address. As DALI is relatively slow the DALI data length can be shortened on the XTBA card between 64 to 1. Half the number of channels sent – double the speed. The unit also has a user selectable output curve to improve the fade profile. The unit will also drive the DALI ballasts direct without the need of an additional DALI power supply.
4 DIN Module, Width = 70mm, power & data leds, DMX address switches, ballast programmer.
DALI to DMX 64 channel DIN Rail
Now and again (but not that often) you might need to convert DALI to DMX512. If so the 'creatively' named DALI to DMX512 64 channel converter should do the job. Plug it in, stick DALI in one side and DMX comes out the other – what more could you ask for. As a bonus you do get an internal switch to select if DMX is held or not if DALI is lost.
DMX to Fast DALI - DIN Rail
One of the major drawbacks of DALI is its relatively slow speed to that of DMX. ‘Faster DALI’ allows for more complex and innovative installations by limiting the DALI data length to a maximum of eight channels - eight times faster.
That should mean in order to get 64 channels you need eight converters, which is exactly is what you get all in a single unit. The first of the eight DALI outputs will take the first 8 DMX channels, the second DALI output will take the next 8 DMX channels etc. By reducing the number of DALI channels transmitted further even greater update speed can be found. Reduce the length to one and DALI can be persuaded to almost keep up with DMX.
The unit also has a user selectable output curve to improve the fade profile. The unit will also drive the DALI ballasts direct without the need of an additional DALI power supply.
If you think this is a slightly strange idea we recently supplied 250 custom units to a film lighting company to fit into 8 way fluorescent units.
6 DIN Module, Width = 105mm, power & data leds, DMX address switches, ballast programmer on output one.
DMX 512 to Full DALI 8 channel x 8
A surprising number of installation are using large number of DALI ballasts controlled from DMX. We recently supplied 1,024 channels of DALI conversion to Hamburg Airport for the main hall. In order to make the installation of such large systems as painless as possible the XTBA DMX512 to DALI 64 channel x 8 has been introduced.
Housed in a single DIN case is will convert all 512 DMX channels into eight outputs of DALI (64 channels each). If less that 512 DMX channels are required the DALI output length can be reduced to allow for greater speed. The unit also features a ballast programmer and will also drive the DALI ballasts direct without the need of an additional DALI power supply.
The unit also has a user selectable output curve to improve the fade profile.
9 DIN Module, Width = 157mm, power & data leds, DMX address switches, ballast programmer on output one
In addition to the above XTBA offers a custom service for DMX/DALI interfaces. DALI to analogue converters are also available.
