4Bank System

The 4Bank System was designed as a softlight source that could be plugged into the wall on location.
With its narrow profile and size, the 4Bank could approximate the quality of light from bounced sources
without losing set space.

The first thing to note about the 4Bank System is that it consists of four components: 4Bank Fixture (fig. 1),
Mounting Plate (fig. 2), Ballast (fig. 3) and Extension Cable (fig. 4). It was designed in this manner to allow the greatest flexibility when working on film production where the gaffer and DP are constantly being challenged to light unique locations and problem solve at a moment's notice.

From lighting close-ups in a restaurant location to lighting large blue and green screens, the 4ft 4Bank is the
most versatile product in the Kino Flo product range and was the first product developed by Kino Flo more than 20 years ago.

The 4Bank Fixture

The 4Bank Fixture houses the lamps and is comprised of a removable Louver, Reflector, and Lamp Harness.
The Louver and Reflector are held in place with Velcro fasteners. There is a strain relief on the lamp harness
to ensure the connectors don’t pull off the lamps during operation. To get the harness away from the fixture,
turn the ¼ turn fastener and rotate counter clockwise to release.

The Harness wiring is color-coded. The same color-code must match at each end of the lamp for proper operation.

Fixture can be used in several configurations:

1) Complete fixture with all components combined
2) "Harness Only" - The wiring harness is removed from the fixture so that user can build a softbox,
    hide behind Plexiglass or rig into tight locations. The wiring harness uses Kino Flo designed lamp connectors
    that grab the lamp pins so lamps can be operated independently of the fixture.
3) "Harness + Reflector" - Same as above - but may want to use the reflector to give more punch and direction
    to the light.
4) Can use Louver to give direction to the light or remove louver to give broad coverage over an area - such as     lighting blue and green screens etc.

The fixtures can take a variety of lamps. So they can be used as a daylight source by using Kino Flo KF55 lamps or a tungsten source using Kino Flo KF32 or KF29 lamps. A variety of visual effects for blue and green screen as well as designer colors are available.

Kino Flo lamps are color correct and safety-sleeved. The lamps are safety sleeved because they can operate inside the fixture or independently with only the wiring harness. Additionally, on a production set the lamps are often changed out. The safety-sleeving offers protection during lamp changes for the user as well as the talent on the set.

Fixture Accessories

Besides the plastic louvers, other light control options include 4Bank Flozier available in full or half f-stop and the new BatWing Louver. The Flozier attaches to the barndoors and can be adjusted to various configurations.
The BatWing Louver attaches directly to the lamps and gives direction to the light with minimal light loss.

Mounting

One of the design features that makes the fixture so popular is the twist-on removable Center Mount.
When it's on, the fixture mounts easily to a light stand; when it's off, the fixture is flat and can be hand-held, or hidden in a space too small to place a stand-mounting fixture. The grommet holes along the edge of the fixture are designed to allow the fixture to be screwed to a wall or ceiling. When the mounts are removed, the fixture has a flat surface so that it can be screwed to the wall through its eyelets.

MTP-LT     
MTP-L       
MTP-LJ     
MTP-LB      

Baby Lollipop Straight w/ handle (16mm)
Lollipop 3/8" Pin (10mm)
Lollipop Japan Pin
Baby Lollipop w/ handle (16mm)

All the features of the 4Bank fixture would be useless if Kino Flo had not developed its own ballasts that could
run the fixture heads remotely. Unlike conventional architectural ballasts than need to operate three feet to six feet from the fixture head, Kino Flo ballasts can operate the fixture heads from up to 75 feet (3 x 25ft) extension cables.
      
The Kino Flo 4Bank is a high output, high frequency electronic ballast that can operate four lamps (4ft or 2ft)
up to 75 feet between ballast and fixture. The Select ballast sends a high output current to the lamps to drive the light as brightly as possible. Its high frequency electronics prevent any type of flicker as well. A special heat-sink design and custom electronic engineering ensure stable operation without magnetic hum or cooling fans to interfere with the sound recording on set.

There is no delay when switching lamps: the ballast operates the lights on/off instantly. There is also a special
Select switch to raise or drop the wattage in the tubes for light output and color control. Keeping the ballast remote from the fixture and lamps makes the controls more accessible to lighting crews who might need to rig the fixtures into set designs or high up in a lighting grid, but switch them easily from a convenient location on the stage floor.

Our new Select Dmx ballasts can be run manually like the standard Select ballasts, or via a separate Dmx control board. Notice we haven't used the word "dimming" to describe lighting control. The reason is that dimming changes a lamp's color temperature and color balance. The 4Bank ballast has individual switches so that each lamp can be turned on/off. Additionally, the lamps can be operated in a high output/standard output mode. This combination controls light levels without the color shift issues you have with dimming.

The Kino Flo 4Bank Select ballast accomplishes all this and still out performs tungsten lighting instruments
10 to 1 when it comes to energy efficiency. In other words, the Select ballast uses 1/10th as much power to produce the same amount of soft light as incandescents. The Select ballast works reliably under most normal conditions, but it's also trustworthy in more harsh conditions, such as extreme cold: The Select ballast series is designed to operate at temperatures from 14F to 122F (-10C to +50C).

In extremely cold temperatures, the ballast may not strike the lamp(s) initially because the lamp may need to
warm up. Switch the ballast to Off, wait seven seconds and try again. If the ballast does not strike after two or
three attempts, turn off the ballast, check that the extension and harness connections are secure and
re-strike. Once operating for a few minutes, the lamps should re-strike instantly.

Up to 75 feet (3 x 25ft) of extension cable can be used between the fixture and the ballast. The 4Bank, Double & Single family are electrically compatible. A splitter can be used at the Ballast or on the end of an extension cable to split a 4Bank ballast into either four Single or two Double fixtures. This allows for a lot of rigging flexibility.

A Combiner can connect a number of smaller ballasts to a larger fixture. For example, four Single ballasts or
two Double ballasts can be combined to a 4Bank extension or fixture.

So, if the 4Bank Select ballast is the brains, then the lamps would have to be the beauty of the 4Bank System.
The vaunted T-12 tube offers a large surface area of soft light. The wide design creates a nearly shadowless display that drops off evenly.

Smaller source fluorescents, such as the compact 55Watt lamps used in the Kino Flo Diva-Lites , can be brighter, but they are a bit hotter and create denser shadows as well. Kino Flo compensates for the lower light level associated with T-12 tubes by overdriving each one with the Select ballast as described above.

A discussion of the various lamps available for use in the 4Bank System in the Lamp Section provides more
information on the types of lamps available from Kino Flo. It's important to know that the True Match daylight
and tungsten 4ft tubes and 2ft tubes common on sets around the world are unique to Kino Flo because the
display broad, even color correct light that cinematographers have come to depend on. These are the only
high color rendering fluorescent lamps made for the professional film and video production.

The 4Bank System will operate any 4ft and 2ft T-12 tube but the color will not be true and the life span will be shorter. All True Match lamps used in the 4Bank fixture are available in Safety-coated and Non-Safety coated versions. Safety coating protects the user from broken glass if the tube breaks. The lamps can operate independent of the fixture allowing them to be built into sets or custom soft boxes or hand held.