The light-emitting principle of LED is different from that of traditional lighting. LED light sources with the same power have different current and voltage parameters because of the different chips used. Therefore, its internal wiring structure and circuit distribution are also different, resulting in different requirements for the light source of each manufacturer on the dimming drive. Then we will find that the mismatch between the control system and the light source electrical appliances has become a common problem in the industry. At the same time, LED Diversification also poses higher challenges to the control system. If the control system and lighting equipment are not matched, it may cause the lights to go out or flicker, and may cause damage to the LED driver circuit and light source.
There are several common dimming modes on the market, 0-10V Dimming; DALI Dimming; DMX Dimming; WIFI; ZIGBEE; Bluetooth.
0-10V Dimming
A standard for the control of analog signals, varying the voltage signal from 0 to 10V to change the brightness of the light.
- Advantages of 0-10v dimming. Simple application, easy operation, strong compatibility, low cost, many smart module inductor on the market for the output of 0-10V signal.
- Disadvantages of 0-10V dimming. The construction requirements are high, and the signal line needs to be distributed separately. The number of control lamps of a single dimmer is limited, and single lamp control cannot be realized in the dimming system. If the line is long, there will be voltage drop (for example, the 10Vsignal drops to 9.5V at the receiving end, the dimming will be slightly distorted).
DALI Dimming
A typical digital control dimming mode. The World DALI Association was established in 2001. DALI is a dedicated lighting control protocol, and the DALI system is suitable for scene control. The DALI system endows lamps with new connotations, and each light has an independent address.
1.Advantages of DALI dimming:
（1）Digital dimming, accurate, stable and smooth dimming;
（2）DALI can communicate in two directions, and can feed back the status of the lamps to the system;
（3）Single light control, more flexible control;
（4）DALI has strong anti-interference ability.
2.Disadvantages of DALI dimming:
（1）The price of driver is high;
（2）Power debugging is more complicated;
（3）It is necessary to increase the signal line, and the wiring is cumbersome.
（4） The transmission rate is slow and small, only suitable for single dimming
DMX Dimming
DMX512 Standard Protocol: Published by the United States Institute of Stage Lighting (USITT) in 1990. DMX512 is a digital dimming protocol, an industry standard for data transmission between lighting controllers and lighting equipment. Electrical characteristics: DMX512-1990 adopts EIA-485 standard, adopts split signal transmission, long transmission distance and strong anti-interference ability. Number of channels: 512 DMX512 channels (expandable IP address).
1.Advantages of DMX dimming:
（1）Digital dimming, accurate, stable and smooth dimming;
（2）Fast signal transmission rate, no delay;
（3）Single light control, more flexible control, can cooperate with programming software to achieve various required dynamic effects (brightening lighting, stage lighting).
2.Disadvantages of DMX dimming:
（1）The wiring is complicated;
（2）The requirements for the wiring environment of the signal line are slightly higher.
WIFI
WIFI is a common wireless network technology that is available on almost all smartphones, tablets and laptops. It is the most widely used wireless network transmission technology today.
- Mesh network structure, there are several optional paths, automatically find the best path;
- Automatic traffic balance between multiple paths, not easy to block;
- Select the shortest path, the delay is small;
- No need to land all nodes, convenient network deployment;
- There is no single point of failure, and the network has self-healing capability.
ZIGBEE
ZigBee technology is an emerging short-range wireless communication technology, defined by IEEE802.15.4 standard, network layer, application support sub-layer by the ZigBee technology alliance. ZigBee technology is a new short-distance wireless communication technology defined by the IEEE802.15.4 standard, and the network layer and application support sublayer are formulated by the ZigBee Technology Alliance. ZigBee technology has the characteristics of low speed, low power consumption and flexible networking, and has broad application prospects in consumer electronics, smart home, building automation, industrial control and other fields.
BLUETOOTH
Bluetooth technology is a simple, secure global wireless connection standard. Current Bluetooth technology supports Mesh networks for many-to-many(m:m) device communication and is optimized for the creation of large-scale device networks, making Bluetooth Mesh ideal for wireless area network solutions covering large open area cities, both outdoor and indoor.
Bluetooth Mesh refers to BLE Bluetooth that supports Bluetooth protocol 5.0 and Bluetooth Mesh networking. Bluetooth Mesh network is an efficient and useful topology structure. Bluetooth mesh network realizes many-to-many communication between many devices.
The Bluetooth Mesh smart lighting solution is based on Bluetooth technology, and Bluetooth is now the standard configuration of smart phones. Users can directly connect to the Bluetooth Mesh module in the light and download related App without additional gateway. Users can control any one or a group of lights in the Mesh network by connecting to any LED light in the Mesh network through their mobile phones. The Bluetooth switch can be used as a node to control the switch of all lights in the Mesh network, or to set different scene modes. Users can also group control the LED lights in the Mesh network. The LED lights in the Mesh network can be dimmed and colored. Set different scene modes; Timing switch and other operations.
Using the latest Bluetooth Mesh networking technology, smart LED lights can be relayed and routed to each other to form a network without communication dead ends, to achieve full coverage of Bluetooth wireless signals, breaking through the disadvantages of short distances of traditional Bluetooth, and to achieve a wide range lighting application.
