DMX512 Lighting Console | mysimulator.uk

Fixture (DMX address)

Channel Values — Fixture 1

Intensity (dimmer) 0

Red 0

Green 0

Blue 0

Universe

Channels in use 16

Ch1–4: —

Refresh rate

— Hz

Frame time

— ms

Frame: break + MAB + start-code + channel slots (44 μs each)

BrkMABStart codeCh 1 … N (serial, one line)

How it works

DMX512 sends every fixture's dimmer and color values down a single serial data line (RS-485, 250 kbit/s) by multiplexing them into one repeating frame: a break, a mark-after-break (MAB), a start code byte, then up to 512 one-byte channel slots sent back to back. Each fixture is patched to a starting address and simply reads the N consecutive channels that belong to it — here each RGB PAR uses 4 channels: Intensity, R, G, B.

Bit time    = 1 / 250,000 baud = 4 μs
Slot time   = 11 bit-times (1 start + 8 data + 2 stop) = 44 μs
T_frame     = T_break + T_MAB + (1 + N) × 44 μs   (+1 = start code)
Refresh Hz  = 1 / T_frame

Fixture buttons — select which 4-channel block (DMX address) the sliders below edit.
Intensity / R / G / B sliders — write raw 0–255 byte values into that fixture's channels; the beam and stage lighting update from the actual channel values, not from a shortcut color picker.
Channels in use — a real console only has to transmit as many slots as are patched. Fewer channels means a shorter frame and a faster theoretical refresh rate; a full 512-channel universe caps out near 44 Hz no matter how fast the controller is, which is why large rigs are split across multiple DMX universes.
Run chase — automates the channel values over time, the same way a lighting console's chase/cue engine streams changing DMX data rather than a fixed snapshot.

Real-world relevance: this is the exact addressing and timing model used by every DMX512 lighting desk, from a single-scene budget controller to a full moving-light rig — the protocol hasn't changed since USITT standardized it in 1986.

Beam colour = live R/G/B channel bytes Beam width = Intensity channel

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