Ayrton’s Trade Fair Innovations Presented: Kyalami And Nando 502 Wash

The lighting shows at Prolight + Sound have long been part of the standard programme. Industry giants and newscomers show what their products can do in regular shows. Regular exhibitor Ayrton has always presented its new products in an impressive show at Prolight + Sound. The French company is one of the best-known names in the lighting industry and once again showcased its latest products this year.

Ayrton show: presentation of the latest products

Ayrton’s light show at Prolight + Sound always looks like a ballet of spotlights. Matched to the music, the moving heads, washes and their LED siblings “dance” and bathe the exhibition hall in their incomparable light. This year’s highlights were the new Kyalami moving head and the Nando 502 wash – both products that will only be launched in mid to late May. A total of 93 Kyalami and 25 Nando 502 were integrated into the light show. These were joined by almost 200 other spotlights from the Ayrton brand.

The show was designed by lighting designer Stéphane Migné and light operator Arnaud Pierrel. It takes them around a month to develop the show and put the new products in the “right light”. The light show is always something special, as it is also always a premiere for the new products.

In our light show, the audience sees our new products in action for the first time
Jean Nguyen, Marketing Manager Ayrton

Not only the show, but the entire trade fair appearance is an important date in the year for Ayrton. At the trade fair, they make new contacts and give their company and products a stage to generate more attention. The company usually uses Prolight + Sound to launch its new products. And this was once again a success in 2024.

AYRTON – Prolight+Sound 2024 from Ayrton on Vimeo.

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Kyalami: Innovation in lighting technology

In 2015, Ayrton set the lighting world alight with the launch of MagicDot, a creative and highly acclaimed luminaire that received international recognition and awards. Building on the success and expertise gained from the MagicDot project, in 2024 Ayrton presented Kyalami, an innovative addition to its Creative Solution range. Realised for the first time, this phosphor laser source luminaire embodies the essence of innovation that Ayrton is known for.

The Kyalami is a great product. It combines what Ayrton stands for: Design, quality and functionality.
Jean Nguyen, Marketing Manager Ayrton

The design of Kyalami is a marvel of engineering that achieves extreme miniaturisation with a minimalist cylindrical footprint that allows multiple units to be installed just centimetres apart. The compact shape of the luminaire with a diameter of only 265 mm houses a 100 W laser module, a cooling system and advanced optics. This configuration not only ensures speckle-free laser output, but also enables perfect colour rendering.

The luminaire features a 126mm front lens that is seamlessly integrated into the spherical design, giving Kyalami an unmistakable visual signature. Its proprietary three-lens optical system produces an intense 1° beam that delivers an unrivalled light intensity of 400,000 lux at 10 metres, making it a powerhouse in terms of beam definition and focus over various distances.

Colour, effects and advanced features for dynamic use

Kyalami’s innovative colour section offers a high-resolution, progressive CMY colour mixing system and a multi-position colour wheel that includes five correction filters and 17 complementary colours. This fixture offers unrivalled graphic capabilities with a fixed gobo wheel that houses 29 metal gobos designed for precise light carving in beam mode. These gobos, combined with two rotatable and indexable prisms, enable the creation of complex volumetric lighting effects.

Kyalami’s moving head is designed for precision and allows infinite rotation around the pan and tilt axis, made possible by high-resolution stepper motors. This feature, combined with the extreme accuracy in positioning, is ideal for creating complex and dynamic lighting scenarios. In addition, Kyalami is designed with robust outdoor capabilities, including simplified waterproofing and continuous rotation movement, which greatly extends its usefulness in various environmental conditions.

A universal tool for creative lighting

Kyalami is equipped with a user-friendly LCD control panel protected by IP65-rated housing, which ensures durability and reliability in all setups. The luminaire supports DMX 512 protocols, ArtNet and sACN for versatile connectivity and control options, making it adaptable to various professional lighting needs.

With an advanced liquid cooling system and a self-adjusting variable speed fan, Kyalami operates efficiently while keeping noise levels low, especially in Super Silent mode. The energy-efficient design supports a power range of 100 to 240 volts, ensuring optimal performance with minimal energy consumption.

Ayrton’s Kyalami is not just a luminaire; it is a comprehensive tool for lighting professionals looking to push creative boundaries in architectural and stage lighting. With its ultra-compact design, high-performance output and innovative features, Kyalami is ready to redefine what’s possible in professional lighting.

Nando 502 Wash: flexibility and precision for stage lighting

The Nando 502 Wash from Ayrton represents a new era in stage lighting, designed for use both indoors and outdoors, even in salty environments. This exceptionally compact spotlight combines robust construction with state-of-the-art technology, ideal for versatile applications.

Innovative design and improved accessibility

When designing the Nando 502 Wash, Ayrton placed great emphasis on accessibility and user-friendliness. By reducing the thickness of the aluminium parts, optimising the cooling system, simplifying the lens guide and integrating low-density optical components, the overall weight has been reduced by 20 percent. This design philosophy not only ensures improved handling, but also complete accessibility to all functions of the light source.

High performance and perfect colour rendering

The Nando 502 Wash is equipped with twelve high-performance 40 W LED sources that enable RGB-L additive colour synthesis. The unique optical system, consisting of a 210 mm PMMA cluster and twelve glass light guides with an optical microstructure output surface, ensures perfect homogeneity of light. With a light output of 10,000 lumens, the Nando 502 Wash offers excellent reproduction of both pastel and saturated colours.

This spotlight is characterised by its precision in colour reproducibility with a colour rendering index of over 86. The versatility of the Nando 502 Wash is demonstrated by its ability to instantly switch from a beam to a wash light, with an excellent zoom ratio of 15:1 and a zoom range of 3.5° to 53°. Its black honeycomb structure and the perfect separation of the light sources contribute significantly to increasing the contrast level.

Rugged construction and extended control options

The robust construction of the Nando 502 Wash includes an aluminium and steel housing, a die-cast aluminium base and heat-resistant covers made of self-extinguishing, fire-resistant ABS PC. The fixture offers various DMX control modes, from 26 to 86 DMX channels, and supports protocols such as DMX, RDM, ArtNet™ and sACN, allowing for flexible and efficient control.

An advanced cooling system with self-adjusting variable speed fans ensures quiet operation and protects the fixture from overheating. The Nando 502 Wash can be easily and securely installed using two Omega 1/4 twist lock brackets, ideal for dynamic lighting requirements on any stage.

With the Nando 502 Wash, Ayrton offers a state-of-the-art solution for professional lighting requirements that can be used both indoors and outdoors. The combination of compact design, powerful light output and user-friendly functions makes this spotlight an indispensable tool for stage and event lighting that masters both technical and creative challenges.

Ayrton: pioneering spirit for over 20 years

In November 2001, Yvan Péard founded the Ayrton brand, named after the legendary Brazilian racing driver Ayrton Senna. Péard, impressed by Senna’s outstanding career, chose not only the name but also the striking yellow colour as a personal homage to the racing driver. This marked the beginning of a company that specialised in developing innovative and high-quality lighting technologies.

The beginning with Eyecolor

2002 was a year of developments and firsts for Ayrton. Yvan Péard began by putting together a team and building networks with partners and subcontractors. The first blueprints and prototypes resulted in Ayrton’s first product: Eyecolor. This professional LED-based moving head device, equipped with 192 20 milliwatt LEDs, was able to produce a wide range of rich and vibrant colours without relying on a complex mechanical system. Eyecolor set new standards in event technology and underlined Ayrton’s innovative potential.

In 2017, Ayrton launched the Ghibli, the brand’s first LED spotlight equipped with an innovative framing system ex works. This system offered lighting designers unlimited creative possibilities without compromise. Ghibli, equipped with a monochromatic LED module that delivers a light output of 23,000 lumens, proved to be a masterpiece of technology. Thanks to a 137 mm front lens and a high-quality optical system covering a zoom range of 7° to 56°, GHIBLI was able to produce an extremely even and flat beam with no hot spot. The careful selection of gobos and colours, in collaboration with lighting designers, met the high demands of the entertainment industry.

We have always worked only with LEDs. And we are proud to be the first company to produce spotlights using only LEDs.
Jean Nguyen, Marketing Manager Ayrton

Uncompromising quality and design

Ayrton not only stands for technological innovation, but also for aesthetic product design and the highest quality standards. The company knows how to leave no detail to chance and ensures that product quality and functionality go hand in hand. This philosophy has made Ayrton one of the largest manufacturers of entertainment lighting products in the world and strengthened its position as a pioneer in the industry.

Ayrton’s goal is always to be at the forefront of innovation and pave the way as a pioneer in lighting technology. Since its inception, the company has consistently worked with LED technology not only to protect the environment, but also to create products that meet the demands of an ever-changing industry. Ayrton continues to push the boundaries of what is possible to realise its vision of a dazzling future.

Pictures: Ayrton, Prolight + Sound