Compatibility: The higher, the better
Compatibility refers to the adaptability between different manufacturers’ LED drivers and the dimmers or the control systems. Take the Triac dimming control as an example, many Triac dimmable LED drivers in the market are incompatible with the majority of Triac dimmers in the market because there are many types of Triac dimmers, and there is no universal standard for them.
Unlike Triac dimming, there’s a standard communication protocol for DALI dimming. DiiA, short for Digital Illumination Interface Alliance, is responsible for managing the standard protocol. As long as the products meet standards of the standard protocol of DALI, they can be compatible with each other.
Communication: Bidirectional communication is better than single-direction communication.
Single-direction communication: The control commands can only be issued to the LED driver by the dimmer/control system. The LED driver can only passively receive the execution commands. There’s no feedback signal.
Bidirectional communication: The dimmer/control system sends control commands to the LED drivers. Meanwhile, the LED driver will also feedback to the system after receiving the execution commands. The execution status of the driver can been seen.
(Benefits of bidirectional communication: You can monitor the working status of the LED drivers in the system in real time to see whether they are offline, and whether they are working normally, etc.)
Controlling Circuit: Single light control creates more possibilities.
Loop: It’s necessary to form a loop through wires to realize the lighting control.
Loop & single light: After forming a loop through wires, each single light fixture in the loop can be controlled. Commands can be one to one or one to many.
Wireless: It can send out signals wirelessly to control a single light or to control all lights.
(The single light control meets the needs of personalized customization as it can create various atmospheres via the diverse settings.)
Signal Wires: The simpler the wiring is, the better
Without any signal wire is better than with some signal wires. Having no polarity is better than have polarities. The simpler the wiring is, the fewer mistakes you will make and the less learning cost you need to pay for.
Having no polarity: You don’t need to distinguish the positive and negative electrodes of the signal wires before wiring.
Input live wire: Control the light by controlling the voltage signal on the input live wire.
Debugging: The simpler, the better
After wiring and installing the light fixtures, the simpler the light scene setting is, the less the learning cost and application cost are.
Application Features: Each has advantages and disadvantages.
Triac dimming is suitable for reconstruction projects which have the finished light fixtures of Triac dimming installed. If you don’t want to do a lot of work on the reconstruction and don’t have high requirements of the dimming effect, this is a good choice.
0-10V dimming is suitable for the projects that require better dimming effect but with limited budgets. Although it cannot combine light-group control with single-light control, its dimming effect is better than the Triac dimming and it’s with reasonable cost.
DALI dimming can be applied to the lighting control of the whole building. Its wired dimming is stable. Meanwhile, it has multiple dimming options, including single-light control and light-group control.
Zigbee dimming is suitable for a smaller system, like smart home wireless control which you use your smart phone to realize a more convenient dimming.
Now I am sure you will have a better understanding about the comparison form at the beginning. Should you have any question, feel free to contact us.
