Patch, Patch terminology – ETC Unison Mosaic Designer v1.11.0 User Manual
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Unison Mosaic Designer User Manual
Patch
Once you have created your plan and added your fixtures you need to patch them, that is to say connect them to
real fixtures via the appropriate Controller (MSC 1, 2, 4 or X), interface (port), protocol and address. Patching is
optional for programming and simulation but fixtures must be patched eventually for the MSCs to control them,
including using Output Live in the
NOTE: The AVC does not require patching.
Before we cover patching in detail let's look at some of the terms used:
Patch terminology
Term:
Description:
For more
information:
DMX
A digital serial control protocol for entertainment lighting. Officially called
DMX512-A, it was developed by the USITT and has become the standard pro-
tocol for entertainment lighting control using the RS485 physical layer.
RDM
Remote Device Management, an extension of the USITT DMX512 protocol
that supports bi-directional communication with dimmers & fixtures.
eDMX
A shorthand term for DMX-over-Ethernet protocols, see KiNet, Art-Net II, Path-
port and sACN below.
KiNet
A proprietary Ethernet control protocol developed by Color Kinetics (now
Philips Solid State Lighting) used to control only their Ethernet PSUs.
Art-Net II
A DMX-over-Ethernet protocol developed by Artistic Licence and widely used
in the entertainment industry to distribute multiple universes of DMX data.
Pathport
A DMX-over-Ethernet protocol developed by Pathway Communications and
widely used in the entertainment industry to distribute multiple universes of
DMX data.
sACN
Streaming ACN (Advanced Control Network), a DMX-over-Ethernet protocol
developed by ESTA to distribute multiple universes of DMX data.
RIO
The ETC Remote Input Output 80/44/08 can output up to 96 channels of DMX
per unit. See
for more information on patching to a RIO.
DVI
Digital Video Interface, a standard for the delivery of digital video data to com-
puter monitors. Used by certain LED manufacturers (for example Barco and
Martin Professional) to drive their LED controller products.
DALI
Digital Addressable Lighting Interface, a digital serial control protocol for archi-
tectural lighting. Developed by Philips Lighting it has become a standard: IEC
60929. DALI fixtures are not patched using this window, see
Universe
A common term given to a single DMX data link or port. A DMX universe car-
ries 512 channels of control data each with 8 bit resolution. A single dimmer
will use one channel while more complex fixtures will use multiple channels as
required.
Port
The KiNet equivalent to a universe.
DMX Address
The term used to determine which of the 512 control channels of a DMX uni-
verse a fixture should look at to take its own control data. This "start address"
must be set on the fixture or dimmer rack itself as well as patching the control
system.
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