The Altstar Starbeam. (stage lighting equipment) (Evaluation)

Quality and price have been the two pillars supporting the reputation of Altman Stage Lighting. The new Starbeam spot and wash automated luminaires add another pillar: innovation.

Built by Altman's subsidiary the Altstar Company, Starbeam instruments look and perform like nothing else on the market. Each instrument is about 28" tall and 15" in diameter and looks like R2D2 from Star Wars. R2D2's hemispherical turret has been replaced by a metal box shaped like a loaf of bread 11" long and 5" wide. Light from the 600W HTI lamp at the base is channeled down the center axis of the instrument to bounce off a 45 [degrees] mirror inside the box turret. Another 45 [degrees] mirror at the end of the box sends the light shooting out the side. The turret can spin 360 [degrees] continuously for the pan adjustment, and the mirror at the end of the box spins to provide tilt.

Starbeams can do tricks other moving-mirror instruments simply cannot do. With 360 [degrees] of pan and tilt, Starbeams can reach anywhere on stage or in the audience, offering much more range than is usually available with moving mirrors. However, because of the low mass, the light can move much more quickly than any moving head instrument--360 [degrees] a second, according to the …