thanks a ton Ujjal! Well, I think I will stick to the raytech board and then as you say'graduate' to a Chinese 'Pearl'. I wanted to know how the big stage shows like the tv shows are programmed. Do they use one DMX board to control all the lighting including the PARS? I use a Pulsar MAtrix Rock Desk for the pars with the 0-10 V dimmer packs. I guess a lot of innovativeness (hope thats spelt rite) goes into it. I also seem to get a very jerky kind of movement from my scanner mirrors, not the kind of smooth flow as seen in the awards etc, what could be the prob, do you think? thanks for the prompt reply last