Parabolic aluminized reflector light

A parabolic aluminized reflector lamp (also PARCAN light, PARcan, or simply PAR) is a type of electric lamp that is widely used in commercial, residential, and transportation illumination. Usage includes locomotive headlamps, aircraft landing lights, and residential and commercial recessed lights ("cans" in the United States). They are identical in principle to sealed beam automobile headlights.

This article covers only their use in stage lighting. The lamps and their fixtures are widely used in theatre, concerts and motion picture production when a substantial amount of flat lighting is required for a scene.

In situations where sunlight or other specular light is available, a white foam reflector is often used to accomplish the same effect as a PAR array.

PAR cans are being replaced in some applications by LED PAR cans, which use less electric power and produce a wide array of saturated colors without the use of color filters, when white light is not needed.

PAR lights possess a lens and reflector that are integral parts of the lamp, the position of which cannot be altered relative to the filament. A notable exception is ETC's Source Four PAR, which uses the same halogen lamp as their Source Four ERS. In this case, the lens is a separate piece from the lamp. The relative position of lamp and lens remains unalterable.

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