At the Interbee show in Japan, Aladdin were showcasing a new mounting solution for their BI-FOLD LED panel lights. We first saw these light at NAB earlier in the year and were so impressed with it that we awarded it ‘Best Lighting Innovation’ at the show.
The Bi-FOLD light hasn’t started shipping yet as Aladdin have been hard at work coming up with an improved mounting solution. The light consists of four 1×1 panels that are all connected and designed to be folded up for easy transportation, designing a mount that allows the lights to be moved around into different configurations has proved to be tricky.
The solution Aladdin came up with allows the panels to slide up and down a fixed rail as well as be moved into various configurations to create different lighting effects.
The 1×1’ individual waterproof (IP67) panels are aluminum-cased and connected together to form either a 1×2’ or 1×4’ unit. Each Panel has an integrated diffuser to soften the light further, and uses the same Universal Dimmer/power supply as the current BI-FLEX2 and 4 Kits, allowing you to power a BI-FOLD2 or 4 Kit via a Gold Mount or V-Lock battery. One of the main advantages of the BI-FOLD is that you can create a two-person interview with just one light simply by folding the Panels flat so that soft light is projected in either direction. With the BI-FOLD4 Kit, you effectively have a 1×4’ light panel that folds up.
I am personally very excited by the BI-FOLD concept as I think it is very unique and will suit crews who need a versatile lighting solution to travel with. Like all of the Aladdin lights, the BI-FOLD are extremely colour accurate and produce a beautiful lighting source.
The BI-FOLD lights are expected to start shipping at the end of this year or at the latest in January 2017. There is currently still no indication about pricing.
