What is the Difference Between Beam,Spot and Wash Moving Heads?

Guide to distinguish between beam, spot and wash moving head lights

The most intuitive difference between them is the different Edge sharpness of the light, which you can quickly discover with the following pictures.

• Moving Head Beam

Beam lights are the narrowest of the three. They produce thin, sharp beams of light that pass through the air and travel great distances. Due to their narrow surface area, they are mainly used as decorative elements for events.

• Moving Head Spot

Spot lights are widely used in scenes where you need to focus on something specific. For example, spot lights produce a beam that is not as narrow as a moving head beam light, but is still very sharp. Stage spot lights are best suited for concerts and live performances that require light to be focused on a specific subject.

• Moving Head Wash

Wash lights are another popular component of outdoor stage lighting. Wash lights produce an unclear brightness with softer edges. However, those softer edges allow you to illuminate a large surface area. Swing head wash lights are best suited for use cases where large areas need to be illuminated (such as sports fields).

Similarities between them

While all of these types of LED moving head lights are different in many ways, there are some key similarities between them. First, all of these lights are based on the same LED technology. They use light-emitting diodes to project the light beam in the desired direction. In addition, another similarity between them is their movement. All of them can be freely moved by you from different angles to get the best effect.