PRODUCT REVIEW
product manufactured by designed by application
DragonChain Colourmix Osram Osram Interior
110 DAVID MORGAN
ENTER THE
DRAGON
FOLLOWING A SUCCESSFUL LAUNCH AT THE ARC SHOW,
OSRAM’S DRAGONCHAIN COLOURMIX SYSTEM IS PUT
UNDER THE MICROSCOPE BY DAVID MORGAN
The rapid growth and interest in LED lighting is both a huge opportunity buttons on the controller almost any colour can be set and stored for
and also a threat to the major traditional light source manufacturers. later recall by the pre-set buttons. An adjustable timer is also included
Osram have addressed this challenge by robustly promoting their LED so that the length of a
systems as an essential element to any residential, commercial, archi- colour change pattern
tectural or interior design lighting project. While establishing themselves between pre sets can be
as a major manufacturer of high performance LED emitters, which are set from 1 second up to
assembled onto pcbs and integrated into luminaires of all types, Osram 99 minutes.
has also carved out an important niche for itself in the production of When used with a DMX
modular LED lighting elements that can easily be connected together controller the whole
either by manufacturers or by end users. These modular systems are a string of six modules
halfway house between light sources and complete luminaires and offer changes colour together
flexibility and simplicity of use in a wide variety of applications. as one pixel, unlike the
The Osram DragonChain Colourmix system is an example of the modu- Color Kinetics iColor
lar approach and is the most powerful RGB colour changing system in flex so it can not really be used to create low resolution video images
the Osram Colourmix range. This plug and play range includes a variety A maximum of two strings of Osram DragonChain can be powered
of colour changing flexible LED tapes, strips and boards that can be from a single 75 watt Optronic power supply driver. These power sup-
easily connected to the appropriate power supplies and drivers to create plies can be connected together so that a number of chains can all be
fully working systems. The DragonChain is designed for ease of instal- controlled together. Osram also supply their own software as part of
lation and is intended for use in architectural, retail and interior design the system – Easy Colour Control. With this software scenes and colour
lighting applications. changing sequences can be set up and run via a PC.
The DragonChain consists of six metal layer pcbs connected to a flex- The DragonChain is a well-engineered plug and play system that will
ible ribbon cable on 500 mm spacing. Each board has four single allow designers and end users to introduce colour changing effects in
colour Golden Dragon Argus LEDs, two green and one each in red and a very simple way. This means that an interior or exhibition designer
blue. When all are on full power a reasonable quality of white light is with little expertise in lighting controls could implement a simple colour
achieved. The power consumed per board is 5 watts with a 24V DC changing effect in a variety of applications including light boxes, illu-
power supply. minated floors and perhaps for indirect lighting. The simplicity of the
The pcbs are designed to be fixed to an aluminium housing to ensure DragonChain system means that its breadth of application comes with-
adequate heat sinking of the LEDs but if the system is mounted on an out the extra costs of hiring a more adept technical hand to commission
insulating surface then the pcbs need to be fitted with a separate die cast it, a necessity with many other systems of this type.
heat sink that spaces the boards from the mounting surface and allows Osram have claimed an IP rating of X5 for the system on the basis that
some air movement behind the pcb. Since the LEDs need to be spaced the boards are coated with a clear conformal coating and that they are
away from the diffuser to achieve a uniform lighting effect the volume of thus suitable for outdoor use. However it strikes me that the interconnect-
air within the light box should be sufficient to keep the LEDs within their ing ribbon cables are too delicate and would be prone to UV, heat and
maximum operating temperature. However if the light box was too small wind damage if used in an unenclosed exterior situation despite their IP
and made of insulating materials then there could be thermal issues as X5 rating. The conformal coating could be helpful in protecting the LEDs
there is no thermal feedback control to the power supply. and other components mounted on the pcb from damage while the
The light distribution from each module is wide so that when used in a system was being installed but for outdoor use the system would need
light box the spacing from LEDs to diffuser can be as little as 100 mm to be fully enclosed.
while still achieving reasonable uniformity. The area of even illumina- As with most LED systems this is not a low cost solution: two strings of
tion is determined by the spacing from the diffuser material to the LEDs DragonChain Colourmix, one driver, IR detector and hand control-
as well as the diffusing materials. With a 200mm spacing the system is ler cost approximately £640. The ease of use when using the hand
meant to evenly illuminate 1sqm. controller and the high light output from each pcb definitely makes the
The hand controller is perhaps the most interesting part of the system. An DragonChain System a useful addition to the Osram Colourmix range.
IR receiver plugs into the power supply driver and by pressing the various
www.osram.com
© David Morgan Associates 2009 David Morgan runs David Morgan Associates, a London-based international design consultancy specialising in luminaire design and
development. e:
david@dmadesign.co.uk w:
www.dmadesign.co.uk t: +44 (0)20 8340 4009
The views contained in this article are those of David Morgan and not necessarily those of mondo*arc.
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