BSR E1.11, Entertainment Technology — USITT DMX512-A, Asynchronous Serial Digital Data Transmission Standard for Controlling Lighting Equipment and Accessories, is now available for public review and comment. This document is an updating and revision of the widely used DMX512/1990, which was originally developed by the United States Institute for Theatre Technology. The draft document can be obtained from the ESTA website at www.esta.org/tsp or from the USITT website at www.usitt.org, or by requesting a copy from the address below.
Comments on BSR E1.11 are being sought so that the standard may reflect the consensus of the entertainment lighting industry. The affected public is invited to review the document and to offer criticism — both positive and negative — by the deadline of 5pm EST on April 24. Comments received after that time may not be considered as part of this public review.
USITT's DMX512 is being revised in BSR E1.11 to clarify undefined and loosely defined provisions in the original document and to accommodate new lighting technology while maintaining backward compatibility with products that comply with the existing standard. The new version addresses issues regarding the use of alternate start codes, the undefined data pair, grounding practices, over-voltage protection, error detection, and alternate connectors.
The draft standard is a project of the Control Protocols Working Group, part of the ANSI-accredited standards committee E1, Safety and Compatibility of Entertainment Technical Equipment and Practices. The Entertainment Services and Technology Association is the secretariat for accredited standards committee E1, and provides administrative support to the committee. Membership in the working group is open to all who are affected by standards-making in the area of control protocols used in entertainment venues and who are willing to actively participate in the group's projects.
For more information, please contact Karl G. Ruling, ESTA's technical standards manager, at ESTA, 875 Sixth Avenue, Suite 2302, New York, NY 10001-3507, fax: 212-244-1502; e-mail: [email protected].