ABSTRACT
The next addition was digital multiplexed (DMX) capacity. The Engineering Technical Committee of the United States Institute for Theatre Technology (USITT) drew up the standard we still use today, DMX-512. One of the features of DMX compared to analog is that 512 channels can be controlled with one cable instead of running a cable to each dimmer rack. Low-voltage analog requires a control wire for each dimmer, resulting in a large bundle of wires. As the number of dimmers increased, it became more difficult to build control cables that were flexible enough for portable situations. Now all that is about to change (see Chapter 18), and the new system will give us the capacity for many more channels to handle moving luminaires, scrollers, and LEDs.
