DMX History
“DMX” stands for “Digital Multiplex Signal”. DMX was created in 1986 by an engineering commission for USITT (United States Institute for Theater Technology) as a way to control dimming channels on lights. In 1998, the ESTA (Entertainment Services and Technology Association) began work in getting DMX to the point where it could be approved by ANSI and in 2004, DMX-512A was ANSI approved as the “Asynchronous Serial Digital Data Transmission Standard for Controlling Lighting Equipment and Accessories.”
It is sometimes called DMX 512 because it can be used to control up to 512 “channels”. To better understand the word “channel”, think of a DMX “Channel” as a “Color”, so if you have an RGB light, this light would use 3 “Channels” or “Colors”. You can control up to 170 RGB Lights in a single DMX universe or up to 512 single color lights in one DMX universe. Each fixture is specifically addressed within the 512 universes using a DMX Decoder/Driver, and you program your light scenes according to the DMX address that you assigned to each fixture.
DMX512 is a unidirectional protocol which means that the data flows in one direction – from the control desk to the lights. RDM (Remote Device Management) is a protocol that sits on top of the normal DMX512 data standard. With the addition of RDM, the DMX512 system becomes a bi-directional (half-duplex) system. The controller is able to send out a question to devices on the wire, which can then respond with an answer. In this way, the RDM protocol allows a control desk to modify and monitor the DMX system in ways never possible before.
Important Issue before Choosing DMX driver
The number of different fixtures or groups
of fixtures that you would like individual control over is important because
each section is going to need a specialized DMX address through a DMX
Decoder/Driver unit. It is also important to know how many channels or colors
that each section is going to need in order to be controlled. For example, if
you would like to control a single color LED light then you will need a single
channel DMX Decoder/Driver. For an RGB fixture, you will need 3 channels in
order to control all 3 colors, so a 3 channel DMX Decoder/Driver will be
necessary. If you are using an RGBW fixture then you will need a 4 channel
driver/decoder and so on. At present, MOONS’ 4 channel DMX Intelligent drivers
are available on the website, they are ideal for stage, landscape, theater
lighting applications.
MOONS’ DMX RDM LED Driers Application
DMX Commonly used to control stage lighting and theatrical effects (ex: moving lights, color-changing lights, fog machines, etc.), also commonly used for color-changing LED applications
Boulevard Ring, Russia
Hongkong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge, China
DMX Master List
During the developing and testing process, below are the DMX Master we verified and compatible with MOONS’ LED drivers.
| Brand | Model | Support RDM? |
| Swisson | Swisson XMT-350 | Yes |
| GODDARD DESIGN | Dmxter4 RDM | Yes |
| ADJ products | ADJ RGBW4C IR | No |
| Traxon Technologies | Butler S2 | Yes |
| Helvar | helvar 920 | No |
| Traxon Technologies | Butler XT2 | Yes |
| Overled | Capybara | No |
| LitePuter | DMX TESTER CX1C | No |
| Madrix | Madrix Neo / Luna | No |
| Nicolaudie | Slesa UE7 / U8 | No |
| Enttec | DMX USB PRO MK2 | Yes |
