Astera LunaBulb wins 2024 PLASA Innovation Award

Astera’s new LunaBulb product – launched in May – has won a coveted PLASA Award for Innovation, which was received during the association’s annual expo at Olympia in London, UK in early September.

This adds to its growing collection of accolades which has also recently included a Best of Show award conferred by film-tv-video at the EuroCine expo in Munich in July.

The PLASA Innovation judging panel commented that LunaBulb “combines a broad feature-set in a much-loved conventional aesthetic,” which clearly impressed as much as it has many Astera customers and users.

LunaBulb is also the first LED lighting product to win innovation/new technology awards at both a film expo and a staging/event tradeshow in two different countries.

It is one of the most lightweight professional luminaires ever created, weighing just 81 grams (0.179 lbs) and is incredibly versatile for indoor and outdoor use. Key features are DMX control, full-colour RGBMA and a CCT range from 1,750K to 20,000K and five inbuilt wireless technologies (CRMX, RDM, Bluetooth, WiFi, IR, and UHF), and naturally it is compatible with Astera’s ecosystem.

Astera enjoyed a very busy 3 days at the 2024 PLASA event, and LunaBulb was one of the stars of the show for the German headquartered manufacturer that exhibited alongside its UK distributor, Ambersphere Solutions.

Attendees loved its lightweight design, ease of use, and advanced technology, including the DMX control and wide CCT range. Many appreciated the wireless capabilities and all-weather durability.

LunaBulb’s success is the result of a fusion of hard work and invaluable insights from lighting designers, technicians, crews and filmmakers from multiple sectors. Their real-world feedback has helped shape the product into an essential tool for set, lighting and event design.

Astera’s head of product management, Ben Diaz, commented, “The energy at PLASA was fantastic! With a focus on new technologies constantly pushing the boundaries of creative lighting design, Astera enjoyed a great show. It was excellent to be part of an inspiring event that highlighted creativity, collaboration, and the industry’s future.”

He collected the Award together with Astera’s sales director, Sebastian Bückle.

Winning the PLASA Innovation Award means a lot explained Ben. “Firstly, PLASA is an important part of our history as an entertainment industry in the UK and internationally, and many of us grew up discovering entertainment technology by researching new innovations appearing at PLASA London.”

He continues, “This award is great because it is awarded by members of the association with extensive technical knowledge and a genuine understanding of the community and what they are rewarding here is not a purely market-oriented approach but the arrival of a new technology that will make users’ lives much easier and lighting designers’ projects much more attractive.”

Ben added that “special thanks” should go to Astera’s technical director Simon Canins and the entire team for their dedication, commitment and contributions to LunaBulb’s development.