Why choose DALI dimming?

DALI (Digital Addressable Lighting Interface) is probably one of the best known systems for dimming and control. Today, DALI Type 8, an addition to the original DALI standard, is commonly used. In this post, we talk about DALI in general and the latest Type 8 addition and explain why it's worth looking for next time you're shopping for lighting.

DALI is a stable, flexible and, due to its design, future-proof system. The system requires only one cable that carries a bidirectional digital signal between control panels, sensors and luminaires. The system thus communicates with each other and avoids a central control unit, which promotes both safety and reliability. In short, the control is in the components, rather than in one central unit.

The aforementioned future-proofing of the DALI system is due to the fact that you do not need to change or replace cables in the lighting system if you have 5 conductors in the cable and want to change the light constellation in a given room. If you want to transform a meeting room into a room with fixed workstations where the lux requirement is higher, a DALI system only requires a reprogramming of the system's settings.

DALI was founded and developed by the Digital Illumination Interface Alliance (DiiA), a collection of major international lighting companies with the common goal of growing the market for lighting control based on DALI technology.

DALI2 Type 8 (DALI2 DT8)

DALI Type 8 is an addition to the original DALI standard that not only controls brightness, but also allows you to control the colored lighting in your LED luminaires, including RGB and color temperature (known as 'Tunable white', among other things).

Previous DALI systems used 2 drivers and 2 addresses for dimming, one for the cold color temperature and one for the warm color temperature. The color temperature was therefore controlled by the ratio between the two drivers, so you needed 40% of one (cold color) and 60% of the other (warm color) to reach a certain kelvin.

It was therefore extremely difficult to control daylight on the previous DALI systems, as it would skew the ratio between the two colors and change the color temperature. It was therefore a difficult process just to find the right color temperature. On DALI type 8, you have two channels at one address, so the drivers themselves regulate the color ratio between the two channels.

After such a technical explanation, you might wonder what the benefits of DALI Type 8 actually are in practice. Because beyond simply allowing you to 'play with the light' and change the color and intensity of the light in your bedroom to 'porn red', DALI type 8 has a number of more serious benefits.

Color control through DALI Type 8 is for those who want a true-to-life daylight rhythm in their artificial indoor lighting. So just like the light outside, the light can change in both color and intensity. Such a solution is very popular in the hospital and healthcare sector, where bed-bound patients can experience the feeling of natural light without having to go outside a door.

DALI or DMX: In which projects?

There are several different protocols for controlling and dimming lights, including Bluetooth and Zigbee, which you can read more about here, but we will focus on DALI and DMX, which we see are more popular with our customers than other variants.

Why is it important to know the difference? To choose the right protocol for your project, you need to be aware of the luminaires' capabilities.

DMX in brief

DMX (Digital Multiplexing) is commonly used for lighting in the theater, architectural and entertainment industries. It is a streaming protocol where each individual stream - also known as a universe - can carry up to 512 channels containing data. The luminaires receive data from these channels, which is sent out to the controller at a specific refresh rate (e.g. 33 every second).

It is important to be aware that the protocol does not assign any specific meaning to the different channels, which is why the controller needs to know what the luminaires expect. This means that each luminaire "listens" to a specific number of channels starting with a specific channel number (so-called address on the luminaire). DMX is a centralized control system that receives input from all connected sensors and sends data to all luminaires. DMX is transmitted over shielded twisted pair cable where all luminaires involved are connected in series.

We will give you inspiration on which considerations to keep in mind when choosing between DALI or DMX in different projects:

Sports arena / stadiums

The right sports lighting plays an important role - both for players and spectators. Low hanging lights will provide poorer conditions for athletes, therefore lighting via high masts is preferable. It will also depend on various factors which type of lighting control is most relevant. Some sports arenas choose to have well-structured lighting control consisting of DMX for off-field lighting and DALI control on the field.

Road network

Highways consist of a long stretch of road that can be hundreds of kilometers long and typically require constant light. Here it would be relevant to use tall masts with the correct adjustment of regular intervals. In a project like this, DALI lighting control would be preferable as the system will help maintain the amount of light and be easy to control. However, it is essential that additional controls are included so that communication can take place via Wi-Fi. With smart street lighting, there are many different types.

Choose the system that matches your needs

Certain functions such as daylight, emergency lighting and multiple sensors and a highly installer-friendly system are easier to accomplish using DALI. For dynamic effects, synchronization of specific fade times, DMX will probably be a better choice. Whichever lighting system you choose, the most important thing is that the control system matches the features your project needs.

What can we offer?

At Lumega, we have several products with DALI Type 8 that allow you to control daylight. Whether you are looking for downlights, linear luminaires or panels, we have a product for you with DALI Type 8. Our most popular products are all available with DALI DT8.

Want to know more about DALI or how daylight management can be integrated into your next project? Please contact us for a no-obligation chat here.