Introduced: 1979 (Colorsette), 1989 (DMX Colour Wheel)
Loaned by: lan Lewis / The Historic Stage Lighting Collective

British company CCT Theatre Lighting often introduced significantly improved versions of existing product types, including the Silhouette zoom profile shown here in Turbo Sil 15-32 from around 2000 and Axial Sil from about 1983 forms. Both colour wheels and semaphore colour changers - called 'autos' when permanently installed in West End theatres - had been around for decades before CCT's Chromatic and Colorsette ranges arrived. CCT's versions introduced new technology such as low-voltage power and colour-coded push-button controllers which made its versions more elegant and reliable.
The colour wheel offered five colours, DMX programmable in this version. The semaphore had four colour flags; you could put multiple flags in to mix colour combinations, or take them all out for open white.
Widely used in theatres, the semaphore appeared in the original Phantom of the Opera, where a common but unfortunate mistake by new operators was leaving all the flags open under the iron at the interval...

CCT Colorsette PSU
Click thumbnail to enlarge

Chromatic Controller
Click thumbnail to enlarge

Colorsette Semaphore
Click thumbnail to enlarge

Colorsette Semaphore
Click thumbnail to enlarge