What's not to love about LED-powered lighting effects? They consume very little energy, have lamps that last for 50,000+ hours, and produce vibrant beams in -- uh - red, green and blue. Ah, the ubiquitous RGB! That's the only beef we have with LEDs. As great as the technology is, we've often wished you could get LED lamps in a wider variety of colors –like maybe some really cool ones like purple.

Oh sure, there are many (usually pricey) LED effects that let you mix colors using a DMX controller. But what you're doing there is essentially shutting off some lamps and using others in varying degrees to create a wash-type effect that appears as a "new" color. For example, if you wanted to create the color yellow, you would typically have to turn off all the blue LEDs, then the red and green ones would mix together to produce a yellowish wash. It's not the same type of effect (nor as easy) as being able to simply turn on an LED moonflower and have color-changing individual beams shower down on the dance floor.

Other DJs and clubs have told us they'd like more colors in LED effects too. That's why our ears perked up when we heard about a new innovation from American DJ called Tri-Color LED Technology. The company has introduced three mobile LED moonflower effects that feature this breakthrough – the Tri Pearl LED, Tri Phase, and Saturn Tri LED System. Supposedly, all of these effects are capable of producing six different colors plus white – and actually changing colors! -- from each of their individual LED lamps.

Seven changing colors from a single LED light source! How is this possible? As American DJ explains Tri-Color Technology, each LED lamp is actually a 3-in-1 LED, made up of, not one, but three 1W LEDs -- red, green and blue. So, in the above example, if you wanted to create yellow, you wouldn't have to turn off any of the LED lamps. Instead, all the lamps would remain on, and only their red and green components would be in operation. So you'd actually be producing yellow in each individual lamp. The beam color could then change to, say, purple simply by shutting down the green module in each LED so that the red and blue blend with each other.

Sounds good in theory, but how does Tri-Color Technology perform in the real world? That's what we aimed to find out during our recent test-drive of the three fixtures.

All of them feature Tri-Color Technology, but the effects themselves are different from one another. The Tri Pearl LED is an extremely compact and lightweight high-output moonflower equipped with one 3W Tri-Color RGB LED. The Tri Phase is a unique, cool-looking type of moonflower with 5 hexagonal-shaped lenses that produce a total of 57 beams. The Saturn Tri LED System is a complete club light show system that includes four Saturn Tri LED moonflower effects, each with 6 lenses, plus ADJ's universal UC-3 remote controller and linking cables. It's the type of compact, all-in-one system that's ideal for smaller venues.

The units are DMX controllable, but they also come with built-in programs and can be operated as simple plug-n-play sound-active effects. Which is what we did, so eager were we to see the rainbow of colors produced by the 3-in-1 LEDs. And quite a spectrum it was: yellow, purple, cyan, white and, of course, red, green and blue! What's more, the colors appeared smoother-looking than those you get by mixing conventional one-color LEDs. That's because with Tri-Color technology, the color mixing is done in each individual lamp, so the blending is more even and you eliminate gaps.

We also noticed something "missing": those annoying three-color shadows that tend to appear on illuminated surfaces with traditional RGB color mixing. Aside from being able to change colors, ADJ's Tri-Color LEDs give you sharper, more even-toned beams, with no multi-color shadows in the background.

Along with their Tri-Color lamps, the Tri Pearl LED, Tri Phase and Saturn Tri LED System offer all the other benefits of LED technology, like long lamp life. The Tri Pearl LED's lamps are rated at 100,000 hours; the other two have ratings of 50,000 hours each. Then there's the extremely low power draw – just 12.5W for the Tri-Phase, 4W per unit for the Saturn Tri LEDs and even lower for the Tri Pearl LED. This is quite impressive, given that the units have an output equivalent to a 250W halogen lamp, based on our trusty visual comparison test. They also run much cooler than halogen, so there's no need for duty cycles. And, as is typical of LED effects, they look great with or without fog, so they're ideal for gigs where a smoky room isn't desired.

Our final evaluation of American DJ's Tri-Color Technology? By making it possible for LED lamps to change colors, it's a great step forward. Fans of LED effects should rejoice, because now they can "have their color and LED it too."

• High-output DMX-512 moonflower featuring new Tri-Color 3W LED Technology
• Produces 7 colors: red, green, blue, purple, yellow, cyan, white
• 50,000 hour LED life
• Sound-active to built-in programs, or run with DMX controller (3 channels)
• Wide beam spread covers large area
• Dimensions: 9" x 11.75" x 8"; Weight: 3 lbs

• High-output DMX-512 moonflower featuring new Tri-Color 3W LED Technology
• Produces 7 colors: red, green, blue, purple, yellow, cyan, white
• 50,000 hour LED life
• Sound-active to built-in programs, Master-Slave, or run with DMX controller (4 channels)
• 57 razor sharp beams with 65° beam angle
• Power draw: 12.5W
• Dimensions: 7.25" x 12" x 13"; Weight: 7.5 lbs

• High-output DMX-512 lighting system featuring new Tri-Color 3W LED Technology
• Includes 4 x Saturn Tri LED fixtures, 1 x UC-3 controller, 3 x 3-pin XLR linking cables
• Each unit produces 8 beams, and can create 7 colors: red, green, blue, purple, yellow, cyan, white
• 50,000 hour LED life
• Sound-active to built-in programs, or run with DMX controller (4 channels)
• Fast to slow strobe; electronic dimming 0-100%
• Power draw: 7W per unit
• Dimensions per unit: 8.75" x 12" x 5"; Weight per unit: 4 lbs