<s>
A	O
lighting	B-Application
control	I-Application
console	I-Application
(	O
also	O
called	O
a	O
lightboard	B-Application
,	O
lighting	B-Application
board	I-Application
,	O
or	O
lighting	B-Application
desk	I-Application
)	O
is	O
an	O
electronic	O
device	O
used	O
in	O
theatrical	O
lighting	O
design	O
to	O
control	O
multiple	O
stage	O
lights	O
at	O
once	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
All	O
lighting	B-Application
control	I-Application
consoles	I-Application
can	O
control	O
dimmers	O
which	O
control	O
the	O
intensity	O
of	O
the	O
lights	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
sound	O
boards	O
,	O
projectors	B-Device
,	O
media	B-Application
servers	I-Application
,	O
automated	O
winches	O
and	O
motors	O
,	O
etc	O
.	O
)	O
</s>
<s>
Lighting	B-Application
consoles	I-Application
communicate	O
with	O
the	O
dimmers	O
and	O
other	O
devices	O
in	O
the	O
lighting	O
system	O
via	O
an	O
electronic	O
control	O
protocol	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
0-10	B-General_Concept
V	I-General_Concept
analog	I-General_Concept
lighting	I-General_Concept
control	I-General_Concept
)	O
may	O
still	O
be	O
found	O
in	O
use	O
,	O
and	O
newer	O
protocols	O
such	O
as	O
ACN	O
and	O
DMX-512-A	O
are	O
evolving	O
to	O
meet	O
the	O
demands	O
of	O
ever	O
increasing	O
device	O
sophistication	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Some	O
lighting	B-Application
consoles	I-Application
can	O
communicate	O
over	O
a	O
Local	B-General_Concept
IP	I-General_Concept
network	I-General_Concept
infrastructure	I-General_Concept
to	O
provide	O
control	O
over	O
more	O
scalable	O
systems	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
or	O
Art-Net	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
purpose	O
of	O
all	O
lighting	B-Application
consoles	I-Application
,	O
however	O
is	O
the	O
same	O
:	O
to	O
consolidate	O
control	O
of	O
the	O
lights	O
into	O
an	O
organized	O
,	O
easy-to-use	O
system	O
,	O
so	O
that	O
the	O
lighting	O
designer	O
can	O
concentrate	O
on	O
producing	O
a	O
good	O
show	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
These	O
include	O
an	O
array	O
of	O
buttons	O
allowing	O
the	O
operator	O
to	O
select	O
the	O
fixture	O
or	O
fixtures	O
they	O
want	O
to	O
control	O
,	O
and	O
a	O
joystick	B-Device
,	O
or	O
a	O
number	O
of	O
wheels	O
or	O
rotary	B-Algorithm
encoders	I-Algorithm
to	O
control	O
fixture	O
attributes	O
such	O
as	O
the	O
orientation	O
(	O
pan	O
and	O
tilt	O
)	O
,	O
focus	O
,	O
colour	O
,	O
gobos	O
etc	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Some	O
form	O
of	O
display	O
such	O
as	O
LCD	B-Device
or	O
LED	O
is	O
therefore	O
vital	O
for	O
displaying	O
this	O
information	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
more	O
advanced	O
desks	O
typically	O
have	O
one	O
or	O
more	O
touchscreens	O
,	O
and	O
present	O
a	O
GUI	B-Application
that	O
integrates	O
all	O
the	O
aspects	O
of	O
the	O
lighting	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
there	O
is	O
no	O
standard	O
way	O
of	O
controlling	O
an	O
intelligent	O
light	O
,	O
an	O
important	O
function	O
for	O
this	O
type	O
of	O
desk	O
is	O
to	O
consolidate	O
the	O
various	O
ways	O
in	O
which	O
the	O
hundreds	O
of	O
types	O
of	O
intelligent	O
lights	O
are	O
controlled	O
into	O
a	O
single	O
abstract	B-Application
interface	O
for	O
the	O
user	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
By	O
integrating	O
knowledge	O
of	O
different	O
fixtures	O
and	O
their	O
attributes	O
into	O
the	O
lighting	B-Application
desk	I-Application
software	O
,	O
the	O
detail	O
of	O
how	O
an	O
attribute	O
such	O
as	O
pan	O
or	O
tilt	O
is	O
controlled	O
for	O
one	O
device	O
vs.	O
another	O
can	O
be	O
hidden	O
from	O
the	O
operator	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Personal	B-Device
Computer	I-Device
(	O
PC	O
)	O
based	O
controllers	O
are	O
increasing	O
in	O
popularity	O
owing	O
to	O
portability	O
and	O
reduced	O
cost	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
These	O
lighting	B-Application
console	I-Application
solutions	O
use	O
software	O
with	O
a	O
feature	O
set	O
similar	O
to	O
that	O
found	O
in	O
a	O
hardware-based	O
console	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
dimmers	O
,	O
automated	O
fixtures	O
and	O
other	O
standard	O
lighting	O
devices	O
do	O
not	O
generally	O
have	O
current	O
standard	O
computer	O
interfaces	O
,	O
options	O
such	O
as	O
DMX-512	O
ports	O
and	O
fader/submaster	O
panels	O
connected	O
via	O
USB	B-Protocol
are	O
commonplace	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Many	O
lightboard	B-Application
vendors	O
offer	O
a	O
PC	O
software	O
version	O
of	O
their	O
consoles	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
inexpensive	O
(	O
<$150  )  DMX ->	O
USB	B-Protocol
PC	O
interfaces	O
such	O
as	O
the	O
and	O
DMX	O
USB	B-Protocol
Pro	O
with	O
public	O
API	O
and	O
other	O
DIY	O
,	O
and	O
free	O
or	O
Open	B-Application
source	I-Application
software	I-Application
hardware	O
combinations	O
are	O
available	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Many	O
memory	O
consoles	O
have	O
an	O
optional	O
Remote	O
Focus	O
Unit	O
(	O
RFU	O
)	O
controller	O
that	O
can	O
be	O
attached	O
to	O
the	O
light	B-Application
board	I-Application
and	O
used	O
to	O
control	O
the	O
board	O
's	O
functions	O
(	O
though	O
usually	O
in	O
some	O
limited	O
capacity	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
is	O
ideal	O
in	O
situations	O
where	O
moving	O
the	O
light	B-Application
board	I-Application
is	O
impractical	O
,	O
but	O
control	O
is	O
needed	O
away	O
from	O
where	O
the	O
board	O
is	O
located	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
That	O
is	O
,	O
if	O
the	O
light	B-Application
board	I-Application
is	O
in	O
a	O
control	O
room	O
that	O
is	O
located	O
far	O
from	O
the	O
fixtures	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
a	O
catwalk	O
,	O
an	O
RFU	O
can	O
be	O
attached	O
and	O
an	O
electrician	O
or	O
the	O
lighting	O
designer	O
can	O
bring	O
it	O
to	O
a	O
location	O
which	O
is	O
close	O
to	O
the	O
lights	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Some	O
of	O
the	O
newer	O
and	O
more	O
advanced	O
boards	O
have	O
RFUs	O
that	O
can	O
be	O
connected	O
through	O
USB	B-Protocol
or	O
even	O
wirelessly	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Various	O
manufacturers	O
offer	O
software	O
for	O
devices	O
such	O
as	O
Android	B-Application
and	O
iPhones	B-Device
that	O
cause	O
the	O
devices	O
to	O
act	O
as	O
remote	O
controllers	O
for	O
their	O
consoles	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Also	O
,	O
independent	O
software	O
developers	O
have	O
released	O
applications	O
that	O
can	O
send	O
Art-Net	B-Protocol
packets	O
from	O
an	O
iPhone	B-Device
,	O
thus	O
enabling	O
an	O
iPhone	B-Device
to	O
serve	O
as	O
a	O
fully	O
featured	O
console	O
when	O
used	O
in	O
conjunction	O
with	O
an	O
Art-Net	B-Protocol
to	O
DMX	O
converter	O
or	O
Art-Net	B-Protocol
compatible	O
luminaries	O
and	O
dimmers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
An	O
example	O
of	O
this	O
is	O
'	O
s	O
(	O
electronic	O
theater	O
controls	O
)	O
app	O
called	O
iRFR	O
for	O
Apple	O
devices	O
or	O
aRFR	O
for	O
Android	B-Application
devices	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Controller	O
Interface	O
Transport	O
Protocol	O
,	O
or	O
CITP	O
,	O
is	O
a	O
network	O
protocol	O
used	O
between	O
visualizers	O
,	O
lighting	B-Application
control	I-Application
consoles	I-Application
and	O
media	B-Application
servers	I-Application
to	O
transport	O
non-show	O
critical	O
information	O
during	O
pre-production	O
.	O
</s>
