Why do I want a GEN3 controller?

[KarlSmith]

Yes Yes
Without the help of others I might as well put the controllers at the curb.

[Guest wbottomley]

stachows wrote:

I have been reading a lot about the Gen 3 controllers, but I cannot find a definative explanation of how they differ, and why I actually want to spend more money to upgrade? Don't get me wrong, LOR will always get my money!

But, What is the benefit/diferences of the two?

If it matters, MY hardware is:

• 
  
• (16) CTB16PC V1 Kits that I have soldered myself, and that all still work perfectly.
  
• iDMX1000 running over 200 DMX channels of LED Par Flods and strobes, etc.
  
• I run my show from a Windows Server 2008 R2 Cluster (BECAUSE I CAN!!!)
  
• Mostly LED lights, some rope and alot of strings (high grade, no fading issues)
  
• Some incandescent lights I have not been able to afford to switch to LED.
  
• Other Incadescents where they just look better
  
• Other stuff that has no impact

Thanks,

Scott.

Long time LOR supporter!!! (Thank You DAN!!!)

Sell me your old boards really cheap and you can have new ones.

[TGabriel]

William why do you want those old boards when you have 25 new ones heading your way.

[JBullard]

TGabriel wrote:

William why do you want those old boards when you have 25 new ones heading your way.

That's a silly question Thomas,

You know William is a controller hog!

[TGabriel]

I know John, but I just had to ask.

[Randy]

As shown at PLUS, there are a couple of other features that the Gen3 controllers will bring to the table.

There will be an accessory digital display/switch set that can be used to plug in, set, and display the channel IDs a little easier rather than connecting to the board through the network. (This was on display at PLUS)

There was also a header on the Showtime version of the G3 boards that can be plugged into some sort of daughter board accessory that would allow for additional channels to be added to the board. (The header was evident, but the connecting board was not shown).

On the firmware side, I'm not sure if all the G3 features will be available on the older G2 controllers, such as dimming curves. The new controllers also have 1000 brightness steps instead of 250 for smoother fading with LEDs, and no word that I know of if that feature will be retrofitted to older controllers.

The manual for the G3 controller I bought says that additional power is available on the G3 board for additional future accessories.

On the lighting curves, there are 10 possible available for each channel, including an LED curve, and a off/on curve for devices that can't stand fading. Any value other than 0% results in 100% intensity.

Those are the differences I see at this point...

Randy