A review of the ABTT exhibition in London.

With well over 100 exhibitors, now filling all the available space, this was a busy show, certainly on the day I attended. It was a pleasure to meet Mark White, Chairman of ABTT and his warm welcome and kind attention was much appreciated.

Here are a few notes on my visit to some of the stands.

Hot on the heels of their success with their supply of equipment for the refurbishment of London's Royal Festival Hall, there was a good crowd to see their new Eos lighting console which provides simple, approachable control in a nuanced programming environment, with unmatched depth and power giving an easy and fast moving-light control.

Also on display was the SmartFade lighting control console, This is a compact console with serious power under the hood which is available in three configurations, giving big lighting control quality at a compact price.

My thanks to Erik Larsen, Market Manager Europe, for his time and trouble to explain everything.

One of Europe's largest entertainment lamp distributors and stocking over £1 million of lighting consumables, MGC is well known for their prompt delivery and excellent service. There was a nice display of entertainment lamps together with a selection of the comprehensive range of LED products which they now offer.

Part of the Multi-Lite International Lamp Sales and one of the leading distributors of stage, studio, TV and film replacement lamps. A small but well designed stand showed their partnership with the major lamp manufacturers. An interesting development was the launch of Q-Max lighting filters which are new to the UK.

Living up to its reputation for consistent and innovative product development, the company revealed the long throw TORU 4°-8° Followspot. Seen here in the centre of the stand, it is the third and final model from the Performer series range of Followspots.

Also on show was the updated Acclaim Fresnel and PC, which introduces long-awaited heat management to 500W/650W luminaires. This feature ensures that operators can focus these little stage lighting workhorses without the need for gloves. The pre-production Arena Fresnel was also on display, together with a good representation of Selecon's extensive range of products.

With one of the most diverse lighting stocks in the UK, allowing lighting designers to select the best products for their projects, White Light is one of the leading suppliers of lighting equipment to the entertainment and corporate-event industries.

One of the bigger stands at the show, there was a wide ranging display of equipment with ELC's DMX wireless intelligent remote controllers prominent but it was Robert Juliat's Super Korrigan that took centre stage. It was kind of Peter Threadgold, Sales Director, to show me around and give me an insight into their operations in sales, rental and installation.

LSI Projects has an unrivalled reputation as a leading international studio lighting and suspension systems integration company with a team of experienced design, installation and support engineers, provide professional lighting, sound, audio visual and stage engineering solutions for a wide range of performance and commercial venues such as theatres, TV & film studios, conference & convention centres, hotels, concert halls, museums and outdoor arenas.

As official distributors for ADB-TTV lighting technologies it was good to meet Larry Busch on the stand who together with Richard Bunting, Operations Manager LSI made me most welcome. Among the equipment on display was the Mentor XT lighting control desk which offers full many options including moving light control within an ergonomically design.

All in all it was a good day and also good to see so many old friends also visiting the exhibition including Nour Assifiri (Martin Middle East), Charbel Zoghbi (Venuetech, Dubai) and Stuart Dell (Philips Lighting).

George Hopkins