LED lighting rental

What LED lighting is and the atmosphere it creates

LED lighting is the umbrella term for fixtures that generate their light with LEDs rather than a classic incandescent or discharge lamp. In practice this means pars, wash fixtures, bars and spots that are deployed on a stage or in a room as the working foundation of the lighting plan. The big difference from classic technology comes down to three things: LED uses considerably less power, produces barely any heat and mixes colours electronically with red, green, blue and often also white or amber chips. As a result, a single fixture can deliver almost the entire colour spectrum, without you having to fit or swap coloured gels.

The atmosphere LED lighting creates is as broad as its colour range. Turn the fixtures towards a warm white or a soft amber and a room takes on a cosy, homely glow that suits a dinner or a reception. Introduce deep, saturated colours and you get a dynamic, energetic look that instantly brings a party or a performance to life. Because the colour is produced electronically, you can also move smoothly from one mood to another while the audience is seated in the room.

Alongside colour, the cool operation plays a big part in how LED lighting feels. Classic lamps become searingly hot and noticeably warm up a small room, whereas LED fixtures stay cool. That makes them pleasant to use close to people, on a small stage or in an intimate room, and safe to touch when focusing. The combination of plenty of colour, little heat and low consumption is precisely why LED has become the standard foundation of virtually every modern lighting plan.

When to use LED lighting

LED lighting works for almost any type of event, precisely because it forms the versatile base layer on which the rest of the lighting is built. At a corporate event you use LED fixtures to colour a neutral room in the house style, light the stage and visually separate different parts of the programme. A neutral, clear look for the content-focused speakers and a livelier, coloured look at the moment something is revealed or celebrated both come from the same fixtures.

At a party or company party the colour power of LED comes into its own most strongly. Saturated colours, quick changes and light that moves with the music lift the energy at just the right moment. At a wedding you use LED for the warm side: a soft glow during the ceremony and dinner that later in the evening shifts into more festive colours once the dance floor opens. So the same fixture does both the quiet and the exuberant work.

LED lighting is equally at home at anniversaries, galas, product launches, drinks receptions, talent nights and fashion shows. Anywhere a room or a stage needs to be set in the right colour and brightness, and where that colour also has to be able to change as the evening progresses, LED is the obvious choice. The common thread is always the same: you want a flexible, colourful lighting base that adapts to the flow of the programme without fuss.

The technology behind LED lighting

Types of LED fixtures

Within LED lighting we work with different types of fixtures, each with its own role. LED pars give a broad, even beam and are ideal for setting walls, stages and larger surfaces in colour. Wash fixtures do something similar but with an even softer, more uniform spread, which is pleasant for atmosphere. LED bars are elongated fixtures with several segments, letting you lay down lines and patterns or colour up a truss. For more directional light we use LED spots with a tighter beam.

Which mix of fixtures we choose depends on the room, the stage and the desired look. A room that needs to be dressed in the house style calls for different fixtures than a stage with a band on it. We determine the number and placement based on the dimensions and the atmosphere you have in mind. If you would like to approach light as a broader whole, with movement, spots and accents alongside the LED base, take a look at our options around lighting. LED lighting is often the base layer within that, on which we build the rest.

Colour mixing and brightness

The heart of LED lies in colour mixing. Each fixture contains chips in different colours, usually red, green and blue, supplemented with white and sometimes amber. By lighting those chips in the right proportion, we mix virtually any desired tone, from a deep royal blue to a soft peach and from cool white to warm candlelight. Because this happens electronically, we can switch colour instantly, without fitting gels and without any loss of light output.

We set the brightness per fixture or per group and let it dim smoothly. That matters more than it seems: a colour that looks too shouty at full power becomes refined at a lower level. We also pay attention to the mixing itself, because not every LED fixture produces white as naturally or red as saturated as the next. For situations where colour accuracy matters, such as camera recordings, we choose fixtures suited to that.

Control via DMX

We control LED lighting via DMX, the standard protocol for stage and event lighting. From a lighting desk or controller we set the colour, brightness and any transitions per fixture or per group. The big advantage is that we can store scenes: a warm, calm setting for dinner, a neutral setting for the speakers and a lively, coloured setting for the party. With a single action we switch between those scenes, or we let colours slowly cross-fade so the room stays subtly alive.

Where it is practical, we work wirelessly, so no signal cables have to run between the fixtures. For programmes with many changes, such as an awards ceremony or a performance, that control becomes the beating heart of the evening, because every transition has to land at exactly the right moment.

Rigging, testing and operation on site

On the day itself we position and hang the fixtures according to the plan, lay in the control and focus the light. With pars and spots we set the angle carefully, because a fixture that falls just off its target misses its effect. That is always followed by a test: we run through the scenes, look at the picture in the room, correct tones that turn out differently than expected and check that all fixtures light up evenly. We tweak small colour differences between fixtures until the whole is right.

During your event we handle the operation ourselves, so the scenes and transitions come at the right moment, or we lock everything in and briefly explain how to change a scene yourself. What fits best depends on the scale and flow of your programme. For larger productions there is usually a lighting technician on hand who keeps the picture running along with the rest of the evening.

Points to consider specific to LED lighting

A few things determine whether LED lighting truly comes into its own. The most important is the quality of the fixture. Cheap LEDs can show visible flicker on camera or display colours that are slightly off, especially with white and skin tones. That is why we use fixtures that are flicker-free and have good colour rendering, certainly when there is filming or streaming. So let us know in good time if a camera is involved, because that partly determines the choice of fixtures.

A second point is the surface and the ambient light. LED colour looks best against an even, preferably lighter wall and in a room where the daylight and work light can be dimmed. Bright ambient light flattens even the strongest colour. We are therefore happy to agree in advance how the existing light can be brought down during your event. Also mind the mixing: a single colour across the whole room often looks more refined than lots of separate tones mixed together.

Finally there is placement and the safety of the rig. LED fixtures barely heat up, which is pleasant close to people, but trusses, stands and cables still have to stand firm and tidy. Fixtures placed on the floor go in positions where no one trips over them or looks straight into the bright beam. Wireless control helps with that, because we are not tied to where the power and signal points sit.

Combining with other disciplines

LED lighting works most strongly as part of a larger whole. The most direct combination is with sound, because the atmosphere of a room and the experience of the music or the speakers have to align. At a party or performance we often let the lighting scenes run along with the build of the music, so a peak in the sound coincides with a shift in the light. That only goes smoothly when both sides are controlled from a single plan.

For presentations and shows the colour scheme of the LED lighting ties in closely with what is happening on the screen, so we match the tones and brightness with the video side of the production. The light on a speaker must not fall on the projection screen, for example, and the colour of the room has to suit the picture being shown. For festive highlights we like to combine the LED base with special effects, such as a light layer of haze that makes the coloured beams visible in the air, turning a flat patch of colour into a full, spatial image. Because we at HuurAV provide light, sound, video and effects within a single production, these elements flow smoothly into one another on site.

Practical tips

Think in advance about the atmosphere you want for each part of the programme. An evening that begins with a reception, moves on to speakers and ends with a party calls for different lighting settings. Let us know the key moments and we will store scenes for them and make sure the transitions are right. Be specific about colour too: if you have a house style or a theme, pass it on, because LED can mix close to a specific brand colour.

Check whether your venue can dim the ambient light, because that makes a big difference to how the colours come across. Also let us know in good time if there is filming or streaming, so we can bring in flicker-free, colour-accurate fixtures and tune the colour temperature to the recording. And trust the test on site: a lighting plan that works on paper sometimes turns out slightly differently in the room, and it is exactly those final corrections that determine the end result.

If you just want to pick up and set a few LED fixtures yourself, you can hire them separately through SpeakerVerhuur.nl. If you are looking for a polished result where the lighting plan, the rigging, the testing and the operation are all taken care of, HuurAV handles it completely for you.

Hiring LED lighting from HuurAV

HuurAV provides LED lighting for events in Amsterdam and the surrounding area, from an intimate wedding to a large corporate event, always as part of a fully managed production. You tell us the atmosphere and colours you have in mind and how your programme runs, and we take care of the lighting plan, the fixtures, the rigging, the testing and the operation on site. You need no technical knowledge for this. If you would like to know what LED lighting can do for your room and event, request a free quote and we will be glad to think through the best approach with you.