Litepanels Gemini, Astra and Sola – professional LED lighting for cinema, broadcast and streaming

The Litepanels name has become a reference point for professional LED lighting on film sets, in TV studios and live streaming environments. From the Gemini RGBWW panels to the Astra bi-color range and Sola Fresnel fixtures, the brand covers soft, hard and directional sources with accurate colour, reliable output and deep control integration for complex productions.

Litepanels – LED specialist with broadcast pedigree

Founded in 2001 in Hollywood by a group of gaffers and engineers, Litepanels was among the first to bring LED panels into mainstream film and television production, focusing on slim fixtures with stable colour and flicker-free dimming for HD and later UHD cameras. Over the last two decades the brand has received multiple Engineering Emmy awards for its contribution to LED lighting for television and has supplied systems for high-profile installations including the White House press briefing room and even the International Space Station.

Today the portfolio is structured around three key product families that production professionals search for by name: Gemini RGBWW panels for full-colour control, Astra bi-color panels and Astra IP for weather-resistant white light, and Sola daylight Fresnels for precise, focusable beams. Each family offers consistent colour quality, common control protocols and accessories that simplify building complete lighting systems for studios, OB vans and location work.

Gemini RGBWW panels – full-colour control for cinema and live production

The Litepanels Gemini RGBWW series is the flagship range for productions that require both high-quality white light and fully saturated colours from a single fixture. Gemini panels combine red, green, blue and warm/cool white emitters in a RGBWW LED engine, enabling precise CCT control from roughly 2700 K to 10 000 K with additional plus/minus green adjustment, as well as HSI and gel-based operation for fast matching to practicals and existing studio rigs.

The compact Gemini 1x1 Soft offers a front surface of about 32 × 32 cm, a wide 95° beam and a field angle around 157°, providing a naturally soft source suitable for key and fill lighting at relatively short distances. At 3 m (≈10 ft) the panel delivers around 600 lux at 5600 K, with CRI values near 97 and TLCI around 94, making it suitable for critical colour work in drama, advertising or high-end streaming studios. Multi-voltage AC (100–240 V) and DC input around 13–28 V allow use on standard mains, block batteries or onboard camera batteries via suitable plates.

Where more punch is required, the Gemini 1x1 Hard RGBWW concentrates output into a tighter beam (around 46°), delivering more than 3 000 lux at 3 m at daylight CCT. With the front diffusers removed, the panel acts as a powerful hard source; fitting the included ultra-light or domed diffusers converts it into a bright soft light while retaining the same RGBWW colour capabilities. This dual personality makes the Gemini 1x1 Hard attractive for ENG crews and compact live rigs where one fixture may need to cover backlight, bounce or indirect key roles in a tight schedule.

For larger sets the Gemini 2x1 Soft provides a wider front emitting surface of roughly 60 × 30 cm, with a beam angle around 93° and field angle around 156°. At 3 m it offers over 1 000 lux at 5600 K, again with CCT control from approximately 2 700 K to 10 000 K and high CRI/TLCI ratings for consistent skin tones. The panel operates from standard AC or high-voltage DC and supports rigging on yokes, grids and trusses, making it suitable as a studio key, large wrap source or soft toplight in grids.

The most intense member of the family, the Gemini 2x1 Hard RGBWW, concentrates up to around 23 000 lux at 3 m with a 20° native beam and over 100° when used with the domed diffuser. With nominal power draw close to 500 W and an IP20 rating, it serves well as a controllable punch light for exterior day work, simulated sun through windows or long-throw backlight in large studios. Stacking kits allow two 2x1 Hard units to be combined into arrays with a front area around 63 × 61 cm, providing even higher levels for virtual production volumes and large sets.

All Gemini RGBWW panels share common control modes: CCT, HSI, RGBWW, X/Y and gel libraries, with built-in effects such as police strobes, lightning, fire, paparazzi and others for in-camera FX work. Fixtures support on-board control with an intuitive menu plus DMX (5-pin and RJ45), Bluetooth, optional wireless DMX and app-based remote operation, simplifying integration into existing lighting consoles and on-set wireless networks.

Astra bi-color panels and Astra IP – white-light workhorses for studio and location

The Litepanels Astra series is widely used in newsrooms, corporate studios and mobile ENG kits as a compact, efficient white-light solution. Core models such as the Astra 6X Bi-Color LED panel combine a 1x1 form factor with output above 1 500 lux at 3 m and a bi-color CCT range of roughly 3200–5600 K, with CRI/TLCI values up to 98. A 46° beam and 70° field angle allow the panel to act as a relatively tight key or backlight, while still covering typical interview framings in studio spaces.

Variants such as the Astra 3X Daylight, Astra 3X Bi-Color and Astra Soft Bi-Color extend the range with lower-power and softer options. The Astra Soft Bi-Color, for example, uses an internal diffusion architecture to widen the beam to around 94° with a 158° field angle, delivering smooth wrap and high colour fidelity across its 3200–5600 K range. All Astra panels provide flicker-free dimming from 100% down to near 0%, keeping lumen output stable at any frame rate and shutter angle used in digital cinema and high-speed broadcast capture.

For modern mixed-use studios and outdoor broadcast platforms, the Astra IP bi-color panels add environmental protection and higher intensity. The Astra IP 1x1 Bi-Color LED panel outputs up to around 3 000 lux at 3 m with a 30° beam angle, while maintaining a CCT range of 2 700–6 500 K and CRI/TLCI around 95. The IP65 housing resists dust, rain and water jets, allowing secure use on outdoor stages, in OB trucks or on exposed camera platforms where fixtures must remain functional during bad weather.

The Astra IP Half offers a lighter, more compact chassis for cramped locations, still delivering around 1 500 lux at 3 m with the same 30° beam and bi-color 2 700–6 500 K range at CRI/TLCI ≈ 95. At the top of the line, the Astra IP 2x1 extends the emitting surface to 2x1 format with output up to roughly 5 500 lux at 3 m at 30° beam angle, in a chassis weighing about 7.8 kg. Integrated Bluetooth and optional DMX modules, along with common battery solutions, make Astra IP panels a flexible choice for mobile flypacks and mixed indoor/outdoor installations.

Across the Astra family, optional accessories such as softboxes, grids, barn doors and battery plates allow tailoring the beam shape and power configuration to each studio. Because many broadcasters standardise on Astra 1x1 panels for news and magazine formats, adding Astra IP fixtures for field work keeps colour and control behaviour consistent between indoor and outdoor setups.

Sola Fresnels – precise, daylight-balanced beams

While Gemini and Astra panels cover broad, soft and medium sources, the Litepanels Sola series focuses on controllable beams with classic Fresnel characteristics. Fixtures such as the Sola 4+ and Sola 6+ combine daylight-balanced LED engines with glass Fresnel lenses, providing the familiar focus range and shadow quality of traditional tungsten or HMI Fresnels at a fraction of the power draw.

The compact Sola 4+ uses a 4" (≈10.2 cm) lens and draws around 53 W, with a beam range roughly from 15° to 71°. It remains lightweight and easy to rig on small stands or grids, making it suitable for backlight, eyelight or accent roles in tight studios and mobile kits. The larger Sola 6+ incorporates a 6" (≈15.2 cm) Fresnel lens, beam control from around 16° to 67° and comparative output similar to a 400 W HMI, while consuming about 104 W. CRI around 95 and IP20 housing make it a practical key or backlight in controlled environments where precise shaping via barn doors is required.

At the top of the range, the Sola 12 uses a 12" (≈30.5 cm) Fresnel lens and provides daylight-balanced output approaching that of a traditional 2 kW incandescent Fresnel, while still benefiting from LED dimming, lower heat and reduced power draw. All Sola fixtures integrate DMX control for both intensity and, in some versions, focus, enabling remote adjustment of beams in studio grids and on high rigs without manual refocusing.

System integration, colour quality and typical workflows

A key advantage of building a lighting system around Litepanels Gemini, Astra and Sola fixtures is the combination of colour quality and unified control. Across the ranges, CRI and TLCI values typically sit in the mid-90s or higher, minimising colour correction in post and simplifying matching with existing studio lighting or large LED walls. Flicker-free operation at any dimming level supports high-speed capture and slow-motion sequences without risk of banding or exposure pulsing.

Native support for DMX, RDM, Bluetooth and wireless DMX allows the same console layouts and show files to control Gemini RGBWW panels for effects, Astra IP bi-color panels for base white light and Sola Fresnels for accents. In fixed studios this simplifies cabling and maintenance; on location it shortens setup times for multi-camera talk shows, live sports inserts or streaming stages.

For buyers responsible for equipping studios, OB fleets or multi-purpose streaming spaces, the combination of Gemini, Astra and Sola covers most requirements: RGBWW soft and hard sources for creative looks, robust bi-color panels for everyday white light, and focusable daylight Fresnels for controlled highlights. When planning a system, it is worth detailing required CCT ranges, beam angles, IP protection levels and control infrastructure; the Litepanels range provides options in each of these areas without sacrificing colour accuracy or interoperability.