Glossary of Lighting Terms

Some commonly used terms are listed below. For more comprehensive glossaries, you can go to stagelightingprimer.com or the ETC Blog

A

ACCESSORIES
Additional equipment that adds functionality to a larger piece of equipment but which are not integral or necessary for the functioning of that equipment. This includes top hats, gobo holders, barn doors, etc.

AMP (AMPERE)
The standard unit for measurement of electrical current passing through a circuit. Written as 'I' in equations.

ADDRESS
This is a number that refers either to a physical dimmer number for conventional lights or an assigned control number for intelligent devices. Each block of 512 address is one universe. (see below)

ALTERNATING CURRENT (AC)
An electric current that reverses direction in a circuit at regular intervals, for example the kind of power found in a wall outlet,

ATTRIBUTE
Controllable parameter of an intelligent lighting device, such as pan, tilt, color, zoom, etc.

AWG (American Wire Gauge)
A standard measurement for the thickness of an electrical wire. The lower the number, the thicker the wire.

B

BARN DOORS
A rotatable attachment consisting of two or four metal flaps (hinged) which is fixed to the front of a an instrument without shutters in order to limited shaping of the beam.

BLACKWRAP (trade name)
Thin black aluminum product which is used to mask light or to control spill.

BOARD
See "Control Surface"

BOOM
Floor-mounted vertical pipe on sidearms can be mounted for hanging lights.

BREAKOUT/BREAK IN
Connections at the end of a multicore cable which allows the connection of multiple items.

BUMP (Bump Cue)
A lighting cue that creates an instant (zero count) change)

BUSKING
Referrers to the spontaneous control of a stage lighting system in real time as a response to the performance. Also known as "punting" in the U.S.

C

CAMLOCK
Single pole connector used on professional power distribution & dimming systems. A separate connector is used for each phase/neutral of the supply.

CHANNEL
A user-defined number that is used to control a device or attribute through the control surface.

CHANNEL HOOKUP
A spreadsheet listing each fixture in the show with all its relevant information, including, color, template, accessories, dimmer, circuit, channel, wattage, and purpose. The channel hookup is arranged in order of channel number.

CIRCUIT
For an incandescent light, the number of the physical outlet the light is plugged into.

COMPANY SWITCH
An electrical box used for connecting temporary lighting equipment.

CONTROL SURFACE
A hardware interface for controlling lights. Also known as a "console" or "board".

CONSOLE
See "Control Surface"

CONVENTIONAL LIGHTS
Incandescent lights with a single control channel for intensity.

D

DAISY-CHAINING
Connecting items of equipment together by linking from one to the next in a chain.

DIMMER
Electrical or electronic device which regulates the intensity of a conventional light by regulating the amount of electricity it receives.

DIRECT CURRENT (D.C.)
Electric current that flows in one direction only, such as the current from a battery.

DMX 512 (Digital Multiplex)
DMX is the most common control protocol used for communication between lighting devices.

DMX FOOTPRINT
The quantity of addresses required by an intelligent lighting device. Each device requires one address per 8 bit parameter.

E

EDISON PLUG
Most common power connector in the U.S. Wall outlets and most power cords have Edison plugs/sockets.

E.R.S. (Ellipsoidal Reflector Spotlight) aka Leko, Profile
A conventional light which has an ellipsoidal lens and shutter system, such as the ETC Source-4 spotlights.

ETHERNET
Computer networking protocol which is often used to send data from the lighting console.

EXPENDABLE
An item that will be used up over a relatively short time span, such as tape, gel and gobos.

F

FIXTURE
A single moving light unit.

FRESNEL (pronounced "Fre-nell")
A type of lighting instrument which produces an even, soft-edged beam of light through a Fresnel lens.

H

HOT POWER
Refers to a 'live' power feed, which does not go via a dimmer.

I

INCANDESCENT
Light source using a metal filament (Tungsten) which glows when current is passed through.

INSTRUMENT SCHEDULE
A spreadsheet listing each fixture in the show with all its relevant information, including, color, template, accessories, dimmer, circuit, channel, wattage, and purpose. The instrument schedule is arranged in order of hanging position and fixture number.

K

KILOWATT (abbreviated "Kw" or just "K")
1000 Watts.

L

LAMP
The term for what might be called a "light bulb" for non-theatrical lighting.

LIGHTWRIGHT
A commonly-used lighting-specific database program.

LUMEN
A unit for measuring the light output of a source.

LUMINAIRE
See "Lighting Instrument"

M

ML
Short for MOVING LIGHT.

MOVING LIGHT
Remotely controllable "intelligent" lighting instrument.

MULTICORE ("Mult")
A flexible electrical cable composed of many well-insulated sets of cables covered in a strong PVC or rubber covering. Enables a number of different circuits to be carried down one piece of cable.

MSRP (Manufacturer's Stated Retail Price)
The list price of a piece of equipment.

N

NON DIM
A channel that is set to switch between on and off rather than dimming.

O

OHM (abbreviated "I")
The unit of electrical resistance.

P

PARAMETER
Controllable attribute of an intelligent lighting device, such as pan, tilt, color, zoom, etc.

PATCH
This is the action of connecting lights so that they can be operated by the control surface. This can be either a Hard Patch, in which a lighting instrument is plugged into a dimmer, or a Soft Patch, in which a channel is assigned an address through the control surface software.

PHASE
A phase in electricity refers to the distribution of alternating current (AC) electric power. It describes the position of a point in time on a waveform cycle.

PRACTICAL
Lights that are integrated into the set or props.

PUNTING
See "Busking"

S

SIDEARM
A piece of hardware used to mount lighting instruments on vertical booms.

SOCAPEX ("SOCA")
A multipin connector which can carry a series of lighting or sound circuits.

SPEC SHEET ("Specifications Sheet")
A document listing the technical specifications for a particular product.

T

TUNGSTEN
See "Incandescent"

TWOFER
An adaptor allowing two fixtures to be plugged into one circuit.

U

UNIT #
A number that assigned to a light to indicate it's location on the lighting position. Unit #s count from SL to SR and high to low.

UNIVERSE
A Universe is a single output of DMX512 control signals. For example, addresses 1-512 would be Universe 1, addresses 513-1024 would be Universe 2, etc.

V

VOLT (abbreviated "V")
Unit of electrical force. A standard outlet household outlet in the US has approximately 115-120V.

WATT (abbreviated "W")
Unit of electrical power.

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