Acuity’s eldoLED LED driver business unit has announced the first driver products to receive Digital Illumination Interface Alliance (DiiA) certification to DALI (Digital Addressable Lighting Interface)-2 Device Type 8 (DT8) capabilities. Such drivers will generally be multi-channel products, yet a single DALI address and command stream will control two or more driver outputs.
Solid-state lighting (SSL) systems that utilise DT8 products will generally have precise and independent controls of chromaticity and intensity in channel outputs. Meanwhile, eldoLED has already supplied the DUALdrive DT8 drivers to a project revealed in the year end at the Form Groningen shopping and entertainment facility in the Netherlands.
The Device Type 8 (DT8) designation means that a single DALI input and address will still enable complete control of multi-channel LED drivers for white-point and colour-tuneable applications. More than 1000 tuneable white luminaires use eldoLED’s DALI-2 DT8 compliant driver technology at the multifunctional commercial complex Forum Groningen in the Netherlands.
Acuity has initially implemented the DT8 capability in the DUALDrive 562 model; such a product may be referred to as a DALI 209 driver, referencing the section 209 part of the standard for testing and certifying colour-tuneable drivers.
Meanwhile, DT8 certification is considered to be the culmination of eldoLED’s latest effort to elevate colour science and is a significant step forward in its quest to bring digital solutions to market, simplify solution development, and drive the quality of light in LED systems. Acuity believes that reducing the number of addresses simplifies design and commissioning as evidenced during eldoLED’s Groningen installation.
DALI-2, nonetheless, enables many more things in the SSL sector. The technology was used in intra-luminaire applications after the DiiA announced what it calls D4i interface last year. We also wrote a feature article on how the internal use of DALI-2 inside luminaires could pave a smoother path forward to smart lighting systems in buildings.
According to Acuity, the industry should expect more DT8 drivers soon or what the company is also calling type Tc drivers. Other members of the DUALdrive portfolio can also get a DT8 upgrade. The company even plans to support DT8 in its LINEARdrive products. Models from both portfolios are currently undergoing certification.
