Why Does Lighting Palooza Even Exist? Let’s Be Real—It’s Lutron’s World
---
Why Does Lighting Palooza Even Exist? Let’s Be Real—It’s Lutron’s World
Let’s cut the fluff: Lighting Palooza in Dallas this week at the Anatole might as well rebrand as Lutron-Palooza. Don’t get me wrong—I’m not here to gargle Lutron’s Kool-Aid. But in the luxury lighting game, it’s like watching LeBron James dunk on a middle school team. Everyone else? They’re just there.
Lutron’s Clear Connect isn’t just “good”—it’s the Tesla Cybertruck of wireless systems. While Crestron, Savant, and Control4 are still peddling their 1990s Walkman tech, Lutron’s hogging the quietest frequency band in the room, laughing at interference like it’s a bad joke. Reliability? Scalability? Seamless operation? Please. Competitors might as well slap “**Diet Luxury**” on their packaging.**
---
CRI & Daylighting: Where the Rubber Meets the Road (and Reds Get Real)
CRI (Color Rendering Index) is the holy grail for snobs—err, luxury enthusiasts. Most lights hit 86-97 CRI and call it a day. But the ultra-high-end club? They’re obsessing over R9—the red pigment metric. Skip R9, and your “luxury” reds look like week-old pizza crust.
Daylighting is the new flex. Philips (yes, the Walmart aisle-dwellers) is dabbling here, but Ketra—Lutron’s $900-a-pop downlight diva—*owns* this space. Imagine lights that mimic sunrise like a Broadway stage crew. Take notes, peasants.
---
Why Everyone Else Sucks (Yes, I Said It)
Let’s roast the competition, shall we?
- Control4: Merged with Snap AV (not GE—*get your facts straight, Karen*). Perfect for your aunt’s “smart” condo. Luxury? Please.
- Vantage: Overengineered like a Swiss watch… that nobody knows how to wind.
- Crestron: The king of “popcorn effects”—lights flicker on like a nervous film student editing their first short. Wireless scalability? More like wireless scabies.
DMF’s X-Wired Gateway gets a slow clap for effort. But wired? Boring. Wireless is the future, and Lutron’s already colonizing Mars.
---
DALI & DMX: Commercial Has-Beens
DALI-2 runs at a glacial 1,200 bits per second—slower than a DMV line. Great for Walmart’s ceiling lights, but in a mansion? You’ll die of old age waiting for your chandelier to dim.
DMX? It’s a theater kid at heart. Sure, it’s faster (250 kbps!), but programming it feels like solving a Rubik’s Cube… blindfolded.
---
Fixture Makers: Trapped in Lutron’s Shadow
Here’s the tea: Most systems choke at 200 wireless devices. Lutron? Casually juggles 600+ fixtures and shades like it’s a Tuesday. I’m working on a project with 600 lights right now. Competitors need a prayer circle and a Ouija board to pull that off.
---
Lutron’s Final Boss Move: Ketra
Ketra’s 800-device wireless limit isn’t just “good”—it’s obscene. Full-spectrum lighting, daylight mimicry, and colors so precise they’d make Pantone blush. It’s like lighting your home with unicorn tears.
---
The Bottom Line
Lighting Palooza exists because… tradition? Let’s stop pretending. In luxury lighting, there’s Lutron, and then there’s everyone else—**dressed up participation trophy winners
So next time you’re at a trade show, ask yourself: “Would Lutron let this happen?”
---
Seasoned Consultant | Extensive Technical Expertise
6moEllie Doherty, if you want to know my beef, here it is: Yes, you provide high-quality, well-evaluated lighting to the market—true. But let’s be clear—this is a trade, and trades need to be taught. From tunable lighting, transformers, 0-10V, DALI, DMX profiles, and all the technical layers that come with it—we need real education in the field. Manufacturers need to step up, because this industry has become insanely complicated. Yeah, there are people like my partner and reps who thrive in complexity and make a great living from it—but let’s be honest, this is a mess. So stop just showing me the mess—show us how it’s done. It’s great that lighting designers use this as a platform to promote their engagement with the AV community, but what’s the actual roadmap for integrating it effectively? And one major question: how is the AV community supposed to bypass the licensing requirements—especially when, in some markets (like yours), an EE-registered license is mandatory? I’m just not hearing the education here.
Enthuse : Inform : Support : Unite
6moProvocative you are, Victor. I found the article funny, but then again, my teammates and I represent Lutron in the PNW. Are you accurate? In a broad-brush “caricature” sort of way, kind of. However, Lutron believes they have real competition while, interestingly, builds the control systems the established and up-and-comer fixture manufacturers rely on for accurate and reliable dimming. And, because they respect thier “friends in the industry”, Lutron keeps moving forward, investing 10 percent of top-line revenue (not net income, but revenue!) into R&D on an annual basis. This ‘crazy’ R&D investment number manifests itself in major new product releases/break-throughs every year. It is as if Lutron is a lap ahead, but still running faster (and with more remaining stamina) than the competition. In mid-market, we are seeing advances from clever vendors like DMF. On the luxury side of things, where cost is less of a concern than absolute best, Victor’s points become increasingly accurate - Lutron HomeWorks control is the absolute standard and Ketra is simple the worlds best (artificial) light. Like a “shock jock”, Victor knows how to provoke emotion and conversation… so here we are… doing so.
VP of Engineering at DMF Lighting
6moVictor, Lutron has a great brand and great product but this article is a joke. The industry relies on every brand you mention to service client needs. Go to the show next time. Speak to dealers and then write something constructive.
Tech Support Agent @ Daisy
6moThere has to be a #1, a leader in the market.