Understanding DALI: A Practical Introduction

Technical education for lighting-control selection and planning. Always confirm model-specific electrical requirements in the relevant manufacturer documentation.

The purpose of a lighting bus

DALI stands for Digital Addressable Lighting Interface. It enables compatible lighting equipment to exchange control and configuration information on a dedicated two-wire bus. This is useful in installations that need more than basic on/off switching.

Know the system components

A system may include control gear such as LED drivers, control devices such as sensors, an application controller and a suitable bus power supply. The precise architecture depends on the equipment and functions required. Do not assume that every product includes its own power supply.

Addressing and scenes

Compatible systems can support individually addressed devices, groups and predefined scenes. Bidirectional communication can also enable querying of device state. Available features depend on device type and software support; confirm them in the relevant manuals.

Before selecting a device

Start with the desired lighting behavior, the existing driver interface, the proposed controller and the installation environment. Then compare model-specific specifications and commissioning instructions instead of treating all DALI-labelled parts as interchangeable.

For details about a specific InHam model, view its product page or contact our team.