There was a time when fancy stage lighting required expensive equipment that cost a fortune. That has changed a lot in recent years, with contemporary DMX lighting systems bringing impressive light effects at reasonably affordable prices. The TEKE seeks to make that kind of lighting even more accessible.
Billed as an “animated and reactive DMX lighting system,” the tube light vows to bring the same industry-standard animated effects, dynamic moods, and movie-quality looks as other solutions in the market, all while coming in at an even budget-friendlier price. No, this isn’t just a tube light that people can use to make selfies with fancy lighting, but a full-fledged DMX system that’s compatible with professional stage and video productions.
The TEKE is a full-spectrum, flicker-free RGBW LED tube light that uses the DMX Art-Net protocol for wireless connectivity. We’re guessing that means it should be compatible with existing DMX transmitters, allowing this to be integrated into your current lighting setup, whether it be for stage productions, in-studio video shoots, or fancy home theater. The whole point of this light model, however, is to eliminate the need for transmitters entirely, as the device can be controlled directly from your phone via the companion app (it connects to your Wi-Fi hotspot) or a PC software (it can hop onto your router’s wireless network).
What can you do with it? A good lot of things. It can flash sound-reactive dynamic effects, essentially pulsing and changing colors in tune with whatever music you’re playing, as well as apply dynamic styles and animated effects with a single tap on the screen. There’s tons of preset styles and effects on the app, by the way, allowing you to change the ambient lighting to match the exact effect you need. What kind of effects? A ton of them, from complex animations (e.g. campfire, police lights, TV static) and dynamic gradients to any custom one you can create by yourself. Heck, the app can even generate color palettes automatically based on any photo or video you upload, taking the exact shade, hue, temperature, and brightness of any section you choose as input, eliminating the need to manually program your desired color combinations.
The TEKE comes in two sizes: 20 inches and 40 inches. The former comes with a maximum of 700 lumens and the latter doubles that to 1400, so folks who just want a nicer lighting for their Instagram stories can opt for the smaller unit while the larger one should be more suited for those who want to put together more professional-looking setups. Both come with a color temperature range of 2700 and 6500 degrees Kelvin, CRI 90-plus color rendition, built-in rechargeable battery (rated at up to four hours runtime at maximum brightness), and a built-in sliding mount with quarter-inch screw-in for easily attaching to various accessories. The 20-inch model, by the way, comes with 30 individual pixels while the 40-inch one has 60 pixels, so you can create pretty complex pixel mapping on these things.
A Kickstarter campaign is currently running for the TEKE. You can reserve a unit for pledges starting at $127.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7EYVfLRm-h8