The Challenge
Entertainment lighting is a challenging business. Lamps burn with high intensity and the gobos used to project artwork and patterns on floors and ceilings must deliver precise images and withstand high heat. Gobo manufacturing begins with heat-resistant glass that is coated and then etched with the appropriate design. High-quality etching plates are an integral component in a light projection system.
 
Developing these plates represents a unique challenge. The mirror coating must be durable enough to withstand heat yet capable of being etched without difficulty. Reflectance needs to be carefully managed and a very low pinhole specification must be maintained. Coated plates must be available quickly to meet the fast order turnaround that gobo manufacturers depend upon.

Our customer, High End Systems of Austin, Texas is a leader in the entertainment lighting industry. Having purchased other mirrors from EMF for several years, they turned to us for their etching plate requirements. High End challenged us to develop a better plate at a lower price.

The Solution
Steve Hunt, our Director of Engineering, accepted the challenge and quickly assembled a development team. We approached the coating challenge on several fronts:

• Environmental control -- managing the coating environment was essential to meeting the surface quality specifications.
• Coating design and development -- our innovative design actually exceeded High End's specifications and simplified the etching process.
• Specification revision -- our team worked closely with High End to fine tune the coating specifications.
• Testing protocol -- we developed a test protocol to ensure consistent quality.
• Packaging development -- we worked with High End to modify packaging for safe and efficient transportation of coated plates.

Throughout the development stage, our engineers worked closely with High End's team in a truly collaborative process.

The Result
EMF delivered a plate that etched faster, with greater detail and for a lower price. High End Systems now purchases all of their etching plates from EMF. This successful project was the result of teamwork in action along with a strong commitment to providing our customers with innovative coating solutions.

If you'd like to learn more about how EMF can work with you to solve your design or production coating situations, contact Megan Shay at 800-456-3227.