Everything, Everywhere, All at Once: DALI Alliance Delivers an Engaging Controls Session
The DALI Alliance’s session, “Everything, Everywhere, All at Once,” at the IALD 25 Enlighten Americas, lived up to its name—fast-paced, interactive, and full of insight. Designed to level up lighting controls knowledge, the workshop attracted lighting designers, manufacturers, and students eager to strengthen their understanding of control systems.
Hosted by Tad Trylski and Emma Cogswell, the session encouraged constant participation through live polling and real-time feedback. Your humble editor has attended previous versions of this presentation and, as always, walked away with something new.
Audience Polling Reveals Interesting Trends
The first poll asked attendees to select their favorite lighting control protocol. The results were telling:
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DMX: 15
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1–10V: 5
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DALI: 8
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Bluetooth: 1
The majority of participants were lighting designers, and the dominance of DMX caught even Tad off guard. “We get vastly different responses from different parts of the world,” he noted.
Next, attendees were asked whether they personally specify control protocols on their projects:
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Yes, I love it: 11
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Yes, but I wish I didn’t: 5
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No, it’s not my job: 12
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No, but I wish I could: 2
Describe Dali in One Word
Describe DALI in one Word Bubble Chart
What Matters Most to Lighting Designers
Participants were then asked to imagine they had 100 points to distribute across the most important aspects of lighting controls. Here’s how the group ranked them:
| Category | Points |
|---|---|
| Ease of Installation | 23 |
| User Interface | 22 |
| Precision | 14 |
| Interoperability | 11 |
| Automation Features | 8 |
| Scalability | 8 |
| Energy Savings | 7 |
| Data & Diagnostics | 5 |
Interestingly, energy savings ranked near the bottom, showing that the audience prioritizes performance and usability over efficiency metrics.
Where Lighting Controls Go Wrong
When asked where lighting control projects most often fail, the top culprit was clear: specification.
| Stage | Votes |
|---|---|
| Specification | 18 |
| Installation | 8 |
| Commissioning | 6 |
| Handover | 2 |
| Further down the line | 1 |
Tad and Emma walked through ways to avoid these pitfalls, including use of the DALI Alliance database and understanding key terminology such as application controller, subnet, driver, input device, and more—each defined in DALI’s online glossary and design guides.
What DALI Can Do
The session also outlined DALI’s growing capabilities, emphasizing its digital control and two-way communication advantages.
Key features include:
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Digital control of luminaires with intelligent feedback
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Precise light-output control with standardized dimming curves
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Color control
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Occupancy and light-level sensing
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Multiple control panels
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Luminaire diagnostics
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Wireless and IP connectivity
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Integration with BMS and IoT systems
This comprehensive functionality, combined with global standardization, gives designers “specification freedom,” as Tad put it.
The Big Question: DALI vs. DMX
Toward the end, the conversation took a turn when an attendee asked, “Why would someone specify DALI over DMX? It’s hard enough to find contractors who can install DMX, much less DALI.”
Tad smiled, acknowledging the challenge, then delivered a pointed comparison:
“It’s easier to make wiring mistakes with DMX than DALI—DALI is more forgiving.”
He conceded one advantage of DMX before turning the argument:
“DMX refreshes at 44 times per second, so yes, it’s faster—but it’s as dumb as a set of bricks. It’s just numbers going down a line. DMX is one-way, not two-way, and that’s a major limitation in architectural lighting.”
His explanation drew nods and laughter—an engaging close to a technical yet entertaining session that left attendees with practical takeaways and renewed enthusiasm for smarter lighting control.
Go Deeper: Read Jeremy Ludyjan’s article in the DEC issue of designing lighting (dl) magazine: