Patent ID: 8138689

Claim:
An apparatus comprising: a lighting control console for controlling a lighting system, wherein one or more digital control commands are operable to be generated by the lighting control console, the one or more digital control commands operable to be transmitted via data links to one or more lighting devices of the lighting system, the lighting control console including at least one housing in which one or more hardware components are arranged with protection against external influences, and wherein the lighting control console includes a plurality of operating elements, particularly keys, slide controls and/or rotary controls, which are arranged on an upper side of the housing and are operable for entering operating commands, and wherein the lighting control console includes at least one display device on which a user interface can be displayed, further including that the lighting control console is composed of at least two console modules, wherein each console module includes a plurality of electronic components including a hardware core and a hardware periphery connected to the hardware core, the hardware core including a first number of hardware components, and the hardware periphery including a second number of hardware components, and wherein the first number of hardware components of the hardware core in each of the console modules are essentially of identical construction to each of the first number of hardware components in each one of the at least two console modules, the hardware core of each of the at least two console modules is of identical construction in each case and includes at least one display device with at least one graphics processor of identical construction in each case connected thereto, wherein the at least one graphics processor is operable to calculate the video signals for the at least one display device, and wherein the at least one graphics processor belonging to the hardware core of the console modules, which calculates the video signals for the at least one display device, is integrated in a digital processor that serves for generating and managing a set of control commands and belongs to the hardware core of the console modules, wherein the digital processors in the console modules each have a display interface to which the display device can be connected.