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Walk backstage at almost any concert, theater production, or club setup and you’ll find them lined up on the floor or clamped to truss — short, cylindrical fixtures throwing broad washes of color across the stage. That’s a par can light, and it’s arguably the single most common fixture in professional lighting inventories. Before LEDs took over, the name came from the sealed-beam PAR-64 lamp these fixtures were originally built around; today’s versions have moved almost entirely to LED sources, but the role they play on a rig hasn’t changed.
What Are Par Can Lights?
Par can lights are fixed-beam wash fixtures — meaning they don’t pan or tilt like a moving head — designed to flood a wide, even area of color rather than a tight focused spot. Modern LED versions typically use RGB, RGBW, or RGBL diode arrays instead of the halogen lamp the original PAR-64 housing was built for, which is why a fixture can now shift through a full color range instead of relying on a physical gel filter.
Because the beam is wide and even rather than a hard-edged spot, a par can is built to cover a stage, backdrop, or audience area smoothly rather than draw attention to a single point — that’s the job a moving head or a pin spot handles instead.
What Are Par Can Lights Used For?
In practice, par cans show up in a handful of recurring roles:
- Stage and concert wash — covering the performance area or backdrop in a consistent color to set mood or match a brand or set design.
- Backdrop and cyclorama lighting — theaters and production houses use rows of par cans to light a cyc or drape evenly from top to bottom.
- Audience and crowd lighting — pointed out over the crowd at concerts and festivals for color effects synced to music.
- Uplighting and architectural accents — smaller par cans washing columns, walls, or facades at weddings and corporate events.
Club and DJ lighting — compact par cans built into permanent club rigs or DJ booth setups for color and sound-active effects
Types of Par Can Lights
Not all par cans are built for the same job. The main variables are LED configuration, output, and housing rating — and they map to a few recognizable categories:
Standard RGBL / RGBW Par Cans
The general-purpose workhorse — even wash, straightforward color mixing, sized by LED count and wattage. Tealshine’s lineup spans this range from a compact 7×20W IP65 par can up to a 19×10W version for wider, higher-output coverage, with the 12×10W model sitting in between as a representative mid-range option.
Zoom Par Cans
Zoom models add a motorized or manual lens adjustment, letting the beam angle narrow or widen without swapping fixtures — useful when the same rig needs to cover different throw distances across a venue. The 7×40W zoom par can is built for this.
COB Par Cans
Chip-on-board (COB) par cans use a single high-output LED array instead of multiple individual diodes, producing a smoother, more uniform beam with fewer visible hotspots or shadow pixelation — a common choice for broadcast and film-adjacent work. Tealshine’s COB range runs from a 4×50W entry model up to a 200W CW/WW version for larger venues that need higher continuous output.
Eye / Blinder Par Cans
Higher-output fixtures built for audience blinder effects and high-impact color bursts rather than subtle wash — commonly used at festivals and large concerts. Tealshine’s range in this category runs from a 120W Eye up to a 500W blinder eye for the largest venues and audience-facing setups.
Halo Effect Par Cans
A newer variant that adds a ring or halo lighting effect around the main beam for added visual texture — Tealshine’s 18×8W par can with halo effect is built for this look, popular in club and party lighting setups.
All the models above are mains-powered fixtures built for fixed or truss-mounted rigs. If your project needs a cordless option instead — for weddings, tented events, or any setup without easy outlet access — that’s a separate product line covered in our guides to battery powered uplighting and choosing a battery powered par can on a budget.
Key Factors When Choosing Par Can Lights
LED type — RGBL vs. RGBW. RGBL swaps the white diode for a lime channel, which tends to produce cleaner pastels and better color rendering for skin tones and set pieces than a straight RGBW mix.
Beam angle. Narrower angles (around 15°) throw more concentrated light over distance; wider angles (up to 45°) cover more area at closer range. Zoom models let you adjust this on the fly.
IP rating. IP20 fixtures are built for indoor use only; IP65-rated par cans handle dust and moisture for outdoor stages, festivals, and tented events.
Output and LED count. Higher wattage and LED count generally means more visible brightness at distance, but it’s worth matching output to venue size rather than defaulting to the highest number available.
DMX control. Standard DMX-512 support lets a par can integrate with the rest of a lighting rig for cued color changes and chases rather than running standalone.
Frequently Asked Questions
What’s the difference between a par can and a moving head light?
A par can is a fixed-position wash fixture — it doesn’t move once it’s set. A moving head pans and tilts to reposition its beam during a show. Most rigs use both: par cans for consistent wash, moving heads for dynamic, targeted effects.
Are par can lights only for stages?
No — smaller par cans are commonly used for uplighting at weddings and corporate events, architectural accent lighting, and permanent club installations, not just touring stage rigs.
What does RGBL mean on a par can spec sheet?
RGBL refers to a red-green-blue-lime LED mix, an alternative to RGBW that’s often chosen for more accurate color rendering, particularly for skin tones and warmer hues.
Do par can lights need a DMX controller?
Not necessarily — many include onboard sound-active or auto-run modes for standalone use, but DMX control is standard on professional-grade models for integration into a larger lighting rig.
Final Thoughts
The category has come a long way from a single halogen lamp in a metal can, but the job par can lights do on a rig hasn’t changed — even, reliable wash coverage that everything else in a lighting design builds around. Matching LED type, beam angle, and IP rating to the venue matters more than chasing the highest wattage on the spec sheet.
Browse Tealshine’s full par can lighting range to compare all 12 models side by side, or explore OEM/ODM options for custom lens angles, LED configurations, and housing specifications.
