At Scenic Labs | MediaLight, we're dedicated to accuracy, quality, and transparency. We understand how inflation affects us all, and we share the frustration it brings, especially when products we rely on seem to offer less value. Unlike the trend of a "pound" of coffee shrinking to 10.5 oz, we refuse to compromise. For us, it's not just about inflation; it's about maintaining your trust and delivering real value.

Shrinkflation is a compromise we're not willing to make. The MediaLight Mk2 range is our flagship product, designed to provide the best combination of value and performance without cutting corners. It's widely used in post-production facilities around the world and chosen by discerning home cinephiles. We've always believed that raising prices is preferable to cutting quality—and that we would raise prices if it allowed us to improve quality—but we've never had to do that before.

Now, we're faced with a situation where we need to balance our commitment to product improvement with rising costs. Since the beginning, we've iterated on our products, making changes like improved LEDs (gradually increasing from a CRI of 91 to over 98 Ra), better adhesives, and enhanced dimmers. The latest iteration of the MediaLight Mk2 range brings ten significant additions and improvements, reflecting our ongoing dedication to improving our products as display technologies continue to improve and evolve.

Due to current economic pressures from inflation and tariffs, we will increase our prices by approximately 25% on our flagship MediaLight Mk2 range. This adjustment is necessary to keep up with inflation since the Mk2 range launched in June 2020. It's important to note that a price increase was inevitable, as a 25% increase barely keeps up with the Consumer Price Index (CPI) since 2020 even without improvements.

To put things in perspective, we've never raised prices before and, until now, our cost-per-meter has declined with each new version of our products as we've improved our products.

However, this adjustment goes beyond a simple price increase. We're committed to a "more for more" approach—charging more but delivering more. As we increase our prices, we're also rolling out meaningful refinements across a number of our products as part of our MediaLight Mk2 refresh. These refinements incorporate valuable customer feedback we've received over the last four years, ensuring a more refined Mk2 range. Our price increases will be accompanied by tangible enhancements to product quality, functionality, and user experience, ensuring that the value you receive from our products not only remains consistent but actually improves. Virtually every component is being upgraded, from our dimmers and adhesives to our wiring and our LEDs.

Our commitment to you has always been to offer the best possible product. Increasing prices is not a decision we take lightly, but we promise that with these adjustments comes a dedication to elevating your experience with our products. We are an extremely lean organization and we don't raise prices lightly. Aside from shipping costs, there is very little overhead to cut. Our costs for some of our improved components are increasing by as much as 40%. 

We thank you for your understanding and ongoing support. Stay tuned for more details on the improvements we're bringing to our lineup. We're excited for you to see what we have in store. Some of the improvements came from posts to our subreddit and some of them came from emails or reviews on our site. Our best ideas have always come from our users.

The new units will start shipping in the final weeks of August. Until that time, we will continue to offer the remaining limited Mk2 units at their previous lower prices.

Upcoming Enhancements and Improvements to the MediaLight Mk2 Range (launching in late August):

• Improved uniformity and tighter binning standards: Enhanced light consistency with tighter binning standards +/- 75K. 

• Upgraded On/Off Switches: Featuring thicker copper cables for improved brightness and reduced voltage drop, ensuring better compatibility with more dimmers.

• Expanded Dimmer Stops: Increased the number of brightness levels from 50 to 150 for more precise control, especially at lower levels.

• Flicker-Free Dimming: All infrared dimmers now operate at 27.5 KHz, providing flicker-free and silent operation.

• Improved Dimmer IR Range: Greater flexibility with an enhanced infrared range for our dimmers.

• Slow-Fade On/Off: Prevents millisecond flashing when connected to Sony Bravia displays, particularly useful outside of North America. This improvement eliminates the need for a separate Sony Bravia option.

• Spectrally-Neutral VHB Adhesive: Replacing the red-backed VHB with a spectrally-neutral, clear backing, offering more tolerance for temporary installations where the backing is left on.

• Custom Carbon Nanotube Tape: Includes 3 meters (118 inches) of 1cm-wide custom nanotape, also known as alien tape or gecko tape, ideal for installations on rented professional gear or high-end displays without leaving residue. Each inch of tape can support up to 20 lbs. The 1m Eclipse will include nanotube tape tabs instead of a long roll).

• Hook-and-Loop Tabs for Installation: Provided for use on removable panels, common on many Sony displays. This feature facilitates easy removal of the lights when you need to unplug or change cables for other devices.

• New 7-meter length and a 2-meter variant of the MediaLight Eclipse. We've had more requests for a 7 meter version for displays up to 105 inches (Our 24v products go up to 10m, but people enjoy the simplicity of USB power). The Eclipse is essentially the same as the Flex, but it includes an in-line flicker-free dimmer, which has also been upgraded to 150 brightness levels.

For the LX1 range, we anticipate modest price increases ranging from $2.50 to $5.00 per unit. Additionally, we will be replacing the base button dimmer with our flicker-free button dimmer, which may result in slightly higher costs for certain combinations but offers significantly improved light control quality.

As for the Pro2, introduced more recently, we do not plan to increase its price this year, but it will benefit from the new dimmers. We've already enhanced uniformity for the Pro2 since its launch, and future pricing will reflect inflation and potential further improvements.

Finally, we are excited to announce the upcoming launch of our LightsOut USB passive control, designed to turn lights on/off even when a USB port does not power down with the TV (compatible with Bravia, Hisense TVs, and many computer displays). The suggested retail price for this device will be $39.95, with substantial discounts available for current and past MediaLight customers.