Dimming Curves
The design of most analogue dimmers meant that the output of the dimmer was not directly proportional to the input. Instead, as the operator brought up a fader, the dimmer would dim slowly at first, then quickly in the middle, then slowly at the top. The shape of the curve resembled that of the third quarter of a sine wave. Different dimmers produced different dimmer curves, and different applications typically demanded different responses.
Television often uses a "square law" curve, providing finer control in top part of the curve, essential to allow accurate trimming of the colour temperature of lighting. Theatrical dimmers tend to use a softer "S" or linear curve. Digital dimmers can be made to have whatever curve the manufacturer desires; they may have a choice between a linear relationship and selection of different curves, so that they can be matched with older analogue dimmers. Sophisticated systems provide user-programmable or nonstandard curves, and a common use of a nonstandard curve is to turn a dimmer into a "non-dim", switching on at a user defined control level.
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Famous quotes containing the word curves:
“One way to do it might be by making the scenery penetrate the automobile. A polished black sedan was a good subject, especially if parked at the intersection of a tree-bordered street and one of those heavyish spring skies whose bloated gray clouds and amoeba-shaped blotches of blue seem more physical than the reticent elms and effusive pavement. Now break the body of the car into separate curves and panels; then put it together in terms of reflections.”
—Vladimir Nabokov (1899–1977)