Color-Coded LED Rings for Intuitive Lighting Encoder Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional lighting control desks are counterintuitive for controlling multi-attribute color fixtures, as they require users to learn sequences of controls and rely on numerical feedback for encoders, which does not relate to the resulting color, leading to inefficient manipulation of lighting parameters.
Innovation Solution
A lighting control desk with encoders surrounded by color-coded visual indicators that change color based on the encoder's movement direction, providing visual feedback of the controlled lighting aspects, allowing users to intuitively control hue, saturation, and intensity through a ring of LEDs emitting different colors and shades.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If conventional fader-based control is used, then brightness control is achieved, but the user must learn sequences of controls and remember relationships between controls
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses color-coded visual indicators (LEDs) that change color to represent different lighting parameters and their current values. Each encoder is surrounded by LEDs that display colors corresponding to the parameter being controlled (e.g., red for red channel, green for green channel), providing intuitive visual feedback that eliminates the need to memorize control sequences and numerical values.
2Ease of operation
If encoder-based control with numerical feedback is used, then parameter control is achieved, but the feedback does not relate to the resulting color, requiring trial and error
Solution Approach 1:
The visual indicators use color changes to directly represent the lighting parameter values and the resulting color output. The LEDs surrounding each encoder display colors that match the color being controlled, allowing users to see the exact color value without interpreting numerical data, thereby eliminating trial and error.
Solution Approach 2:
The system provides immediate visual feedback through color-coded LEDs that respond in real-time to encoder movements. The feedback mechanism displays the current parameter value in a visually intuitive format (color rather than number), creating a direct relationship between user action and visual result.
3Loss of information
If conventional encoder design is used, then control functionality is provided, but no visual feedback is given about what the encoder is controlling
Solution Approach 1:
Each encoder is surrounded by a ring of color-coded LEDs that visually indicate which parameter the encoder is controlling and what the current value is. The color information provides immediate recognition of the controlled parameter without requiring additional displays or numerical readouts, making the feedback system intuitive rather than complex.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enhances user experience by providing intuitive visual feedback, allowing users to instantly recognize the function and color values of encoders, reducing the need for trial and error in manipulating lighting parameters, and improving ergonomics for controlling complex lighting setups.
Implementation Method 1
a ring of LEDs that change color to provide visual feedback to a user
Data Source
AI summary
A lighting control desk includes a housing with a cavity provided within the housing and a control surface. The control surface includes digital displays, encoders, faders, pushbutton switches and a keyboard to assist in controlling different aspects of the light fixtures that are communicably coupled to the lighting control desk. A multitude of light-emitting visual indicators are positioned around one or more of the encoders. The visual indicators provide a visual indication of the color, hue, color saturation, or color intensity of the light fixtures being controlled by that particular encoder as well as the changes that will be effected to the color, hue, color saturation, or color intensity based on how the user may adjust the encoder. One or more light emitting diodes positioned in the cavity are optically coupled to each visual indicator to generate the color of light to be emitted through that particular visual indicator.