Nonimaging optics applications in theater lighting

It has been well established that nonimaging optics is the ideal way to concentrate or funnel light for applications ranging from solar energy to illumination. One industry where lighting is critical is the theater in which stage performers must be illuminated effectively. Historically theater lighting has been done using filament bulbs, which produce a lot of heat and provide discomfort to the actors and patrons. With the advent of LED lighting, many theaters are starting to replace the old filament bulbs with LED fixtures to provide the same effect. However, the last holdout for transition to LEDs has been the spotlight, because of the high standards of theater experts. Typical spotlights use a halogen-tungsten bulb coupled with an ellipsoid reflector to provide illumination of 10,000 lumens with a power input of 1000 watts. In this paper we present the work on the development of a nonimaging optics reflector coupled with a 100-watt LED fixture that can match the 10,000 lumens required by theaters for spotlighting, at a fraction of the power requirement and heat generation.