Draft:Electronic Theatre Controls

Electronic Theatre Controls (ETC) is an American manufacturer of theater, entertainment and architectural lighting. The company was founded in 1975. by brothers Fred and Bill Foster and as of 2023 operates in 13 countries. The company is based in Middleton in the US state of Wisconsin. Notable clients of ETC include Cirque du Soleil, the World Cup, Disneyland and the Super Bowl

1975: Founding
Electronic Theatre Controls was founded in 1975 by brothers Fred and Bill Foster, with the help of their friends Gary Bewick and Jim Bradley. All four of them were UW-Madison undergraduates. The company began operation in the basement of Fred's flat with $500 Their original goal was to bring the first solid-state microprocessor controlled lighting system into the Metropolitan Opera House.

Acquisitions
ETC pursued a significant expansion early on through their many acquisitions.
 * 1990: Lighting Methods Inc
 * 1995: ARRI GB, Lighting Controls Department
 * 1998: Irideon Inc.
 * 2002: transtechnik Lichtsysteme
 * 2003: AVAB France
 * 2004: IES
 * 2004: Penko Engineering BV
 * 2009: Selador
 * 2014: Vortek
 * 2017: High End Systems

Products (selection)
ETC manufactures a whole range of products and continues to sell some products from acquired companies (in many cases with a different design and under a different label). For example, transtechnik light control panels are now sold under the transtechnik by ETC label.
 * Eos, Ion, Element, Gio Lighting console
 * Cobalt, Congo, Congo jr (formerly avab)
 * Prisma NTX, Focus NTX, Iris NTX (formerly transtechnik)
 * Sensor Dimmer
 * Unison Architectural lighting control system
 * Net3 Networking components
 * Selador LED-Spotlight
 * Source 4 Spotlight

Source Four
A prominent product within the company's portfolio is the Source Four. Unveiled in 1992. , this release represented a substantial milestone in the development of ellipsoidal spotlights. As opposed to other attempts in the market, the Source Four featured a 15- to 35-mm zoom, complete pan and tilt functionality , a 24-frame color scroller , and an exclusive QuietDrive motor control. Notably, ETC had incorporated the traditional four shutters of standard ellipsoidals into a remote-controlled module, allowing users to select additional modules like a color scroller, rotating wheel module, static wheel module, and an iris module. These modules were autosensing, removing the need for patching or internal adjustments In 2012, ETC introduced an LED version of their Source Four, removing the need for coloured gels. Despite that, the original tungsten Source Four remains in production

Awards

 * 1997: Manufacturer of the Year Award for innovation and diversified growth (from Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce)
 * 2007: Wally Russell Lifetime Achievement Award (attributed to co-founder Fred Foster)