How to Transform Your Business with DMX Wall Washers

If you’ve ever been to a club or watched the latest Broadway play, you must have taken note of the beautiful washes of color against the wall or stage. This is achieved with DMX technology and wall washers. Wall washers are now being used in a variety of commercial lighting applications such as lighting interiors and exteriors of buildings, illuminating billboards, and creating attractive booths at tradeshows. LED wall washers are powerful, compact, portable and plug-and-play, and as their name suggests, they can light up a huge amount of space. They also offer the advantage of high-powered lighting without the high heat and high power consumption of older lighting technology. Here are some ways you can enhance your business with DMX technology and wall washers.



What is DMX?

DMX is the technology used to control everything from the colors of lights to timing and dimming. With full-color RGB wall washers, DMX controllers can play custom-created patterns that are programmed using computer software.

An example of a DMX controller is the Apollo from Elemental LED, which comes with PC-compatible computer software for user-friendly custom lighting programming. The Apollo is an economical option that offers both DMX and PWM output, and has memory to store your DMX commands. The dual control allows the Apollo to command two different DMX devices while driving three channels of PWM to control non-DMX devices like RGB strip lights.

DMX lighting simplifies large lighting installations by not having to have several dimmer switches and complicated wire gauge calculations and installations. DMX allows lighting designers and installers to simply place power where they want lights and perform an infinite amount of daisy chains creating what is known as a DMX universe. Meaning, wall washers can be daisy-chained together so that they all work in sync off of one controller.

You can also use wall washers by themselves without a DMX controller. All washers operate as standalone fixtures that can be controlled manually with pre-programmed color patterns and lighting effects. This is common for architectural accent lighting and other static lighting that has no need for light variance.

How can I integrate wall washers and DMX into my installation?

Architecture
If you are an architect you can use wall washers to highlight certain parts of your design. You can light interiors or exteriors of buildings with a full palette of colors or color patterns. From a distance your building can be seen with colors to represent and celebrate different occasions.

For example, Remax lit the exterior of their Southern California headquarters using eight 24” RGB LED Wall Washers. Anyone driving through Interstate 5 near Newhall, CA can see the entire back of the building lit up in washes of red, white and blue.

Conventions and Tradeshows
You can create an attractive booth at a tradeshow or convention with wall washers and DMX controllers. Wall washers brighten and create eye-catching, sophisticated booths, drawing attendees your way. Additionally, DMX controllers can be used to create custom light shows, or can be set to music, transforming your booth into a disco floor.

For example, West Coast Customs worked with Skype to create a memorable mobile lounge booth in an Airstream. They used the Apollo DMX Color Controller along with a 1 Meter RGB LED Wall Washer with a 45-degree angle, and a DMX Decoder with XLR Ports to light up the Skype sign on top of the Airstream. The Skype Lounge was a big hit at one of its first stops, Comic-Con. Even from a distance people could see the brand thanks to the glowing, colorful light created by the wall washer, which helped Skype stand out in a sea of booths.

Businesses & Retail Displays
If you’re a restaurant or other business owner, you can instantly create mood lighting with DMX lighting. Place a wall washer anywhere you want to highlight, whether a VIP lounge, a themed room or in the lobby for a grand entrance. Just select the color you want, adjust the dimming, and give the whole room a wash of color from warm orange to cool purple. There is no need to monitor several dimmer switches—you can just pick your location, plug it in and change the whole feel of the room.

Using wall washers adds an intense splash effect and breaks up the norm of using artwork or plants as decor. Using a large wall washer at an entryway can simulate a red carpet Hollywood premiere for dinners parties, creating an A-list dining experience. Smaller wall washer units can be used to highlight paintings or sculptures. 5 Star Island, a rental resort venue in Miami, used several Rectangular RGB LED Wall Washers and PAR 64 RGB Wall Washers to light up their villas, palm trees, and fountains. The effect was nothing short of luxurious.

How can I get started with wall washers and DMX lighting?

ledhut8 has resources to get you started on a DMX and wall washer installation. First, view this Color-Changing Wall Washer Installation and Programming tutorial on how to program DMX wall washers.

 has resources to get you started on a DMX and wall washer installation. ledhut8 has several different models of wall washers to choose from.  Browse different features including shape, size, projection distance, beam angle and price. You can also view thorough wiring diagrams and detailed instruction sheets so you can see how easy the installation will be.

ledhut8 also has a selection of low-cost, user-friendly DMX controllersand a variety of accessories including DMX decoders and transmitters.

ledhut8 has dedicated product specialists and Account Managers who can help you figure out the best lighting solutions for your commercial needs. If you have a large-scale project or idea but are not sure how to get it done, ask our experienced and specialized Account Managers and they’ll be able to provide support throughout all stages of your project’s development.

Stand Out from the Pack

Wall washers and DMX lighting have come a long way from just lighting up performances and dance floors. They now offer memorable and sophisticated solutions for businesses that want to stand out. Whether you’re an architect, designer, fabricator or business owner, consider integrating wall washers and DMX lighting into your design and installation. You don’t need to be a professional lighting designer to create amazing color effects that will make your business the one to watch.