Large searchlights have written one of the most glorious pages in the history of professional show lighting. Yet today they are considered unviable since many firms are not open to investing in a technology that often has weight, size, operating cost and maintenance drawbacks.

Claypaky's SKYLOS aims to quash these uncertainties, and comes with a long list of features and performance specs that make it much more than just a simple searchlight, the company says. The Skylos is an extremely versatile fixture, which will certainly also be appreciated in the touring sector, where LDs are constantly on the look-out for dense, solid beams of light and ever-greater light output.

The Skylos fits a custom 300W white light laser source, which provides an extremely parallel, uniform beam, while attenuating the well-known temperature and safety issues found with units that use Xenon lamps.

Considering the light output, its power consumption is not even close to that of traditional searchlights. With a power consumption of only 600W, the Skylos has the same light output as a 4,000W Xenon lamp!

The beam pours out from a large 300mm front lens, specifically designed in Claypaky's R&D department. In combination with the light source, it produces a dense, full-bodied column of light, which is highly visible even from afar. The beam is perfectly uniform and parallel, the company says, with no visible hotspots. The beam angle can be adjusted from 0.5° to 5° resulting in exceptional light intensity, which cannot be produced by a LED or traditional light source.

Its range of effects includes a slot for customizable gobos and a battery of prisms, which distinguishes it from other fixtures. On one wheel, we find a rotating six-sided prism and a rotating five-sided linear prism. And on a second level, we find a fixed 4-sided prism, which can be superimposed on the other two to achieve a breath-taking Moonflower effect and many other fantastic never-seen-before mid-air effects. Laser technology adds outstanding optical contrast, making all light projections razor-sharp.

Other Skylos features include a 15-color wheel, with colour filters designed to preserve and optimize the high brightness of the light beam, a 5° frost filter for a soft edge effect which can be used in various applications, a 24-bit digital dimmer and a digital stop-strobe effect.

If you consider its light output and the size of the front lens, the body of this light is lightweight and compact. This allows the unit both to be moved with relative ease in any environment, and to be rigged on trusses for use on tours.

Its compactness also makes for fast pan and tilt movements, well suited for live shows. It is truly worlds apart from the slow, elephantine movements of many of its predecessors, the company says.

Its body is IP66 protection rated and marine grade. So, it is capable of working in any weather conditions and in environments with high marine salinity and a high risk of corrosion. A sophisticated internal heating system designed specifically for this product means it can even work at very low temperatures (as low as -40°).