Michael Atkinson had already planned a new touring dimmer system for the forthcoming tour of the National Theatre's production of The History Boys with Matrix being one option, as it is at the core of the dimming installations in both the National's Cottesloe and Lyttelton theatres. Atkinson's response to a preview of the latest Matrix II version - scheduled to enter full production in 2006 - was an immediate order, providing that the dimmers could be manufactured and delivered in time for the tour at the beginning of October, less than three weeks from official product launch to delivery.
The Matrix II, the latest and most technologically advanced dimming system from ETC's IES brand, supersedes the IES Matrix already widely adopted and installed throughout Europe since its introduction in 2000. The National Theatre has extensive experience of Matrix fitted with sine wave technology dimmers, installed in its Cottesloe and Lyttelton Theatres as part of the total lighting refurbishment of its auditoria, which began in 1998.
Now offering a wider choice of dimming modules and protection devices and with extra design upgrades to add functionality and features, Matrix II is expected to have widespread appeal in theatre, TV, concert venues and, of course, touring, say ETC. It has been developed to expand the system options, providing extra design 'headroom' to increase density and efficiency, offering more power rating options and protection variants by utilising higher performance processors and also integrating more fully with ETC protocols and control systems. Investment in manufacturing tooling and economies of scale has enabled the Matrix brand to continue to be a world leader in both advanced sine wave and SCR dimming systems.
The Matrix II dimmers on tour with The History Boys were configured in two 63-channel flight cases with comprehensive load patching and Ethernet capability, 48 x 2.5kW , 3 x 5kW dimming channels and 12 x 16A non-dim circuits.
(Lee Baldock)
