Lighting has solidly kept up its hot streak in the custom integration (CI) channel, and among the companies selling lighting to integrators, DMF has been one of the hotter brands in recent years aided by releases such as its PhaseX gateway and the more recent Artafex 1. Ahead of CEDIA Expo 2026, CE Pro reached out to Charlie Derk, Sr. Director of Product Strategy for DMF Lighting to see how the company is continuing to improve upon these innovations in addition to what the reception has been like so far from the CI community.
CE Pro: What has the response for the Artafex 1 been like since its launch at Lightapalooza?
Charlie Derk: Honestly, better than we expected, and we expected a lot. We’ve had integrators reach out who’ve been asking for something like this for years, mostly because they were tired of telling clients “sure, but only for accent lighting” every time someone wanted a one-inch aperture. Getting named a finalist in the Manufacturer category at this year’s CEDIA Smart Home Awards this early in its life is a nice bit of outside validation, but the response that actually matters to us is integrators already specifying it on real projects. That’s the test that counts.
CE Pro: How does the Artafex 1 improve upon downlight design for both the integrator as well as the designer and architect on a project?
Derk: For the integrator, it’s serviceability. Both the driver and the light module are tool-free and fully accessible from below the ceiling plane, so you’re never cutting into a finished ceiling to fix a problem two years after the install. That’s fewer callbacks and none of those awkward conversations with a homeowner about opening up a ceiling they just painted. For the designer and architect, it’s the optic. Our 3-Stage Optic lets us deliver real output and glare control from a one-inch aperture, so you’re not forced to compromise on ceiling plane and sightlines just because someone wants ambient light instead of an accent. You can use the same fixture for ambient, task, and accent in the same room, without needing a different product for each role.
CE Pro: How do you see this new fixture fitting in with some of the other solutions DMF offers for the home?
Derk: Artafex 1 doesn’t live in isolation. It runs on the same PhaseX technology as the rest of our Artafex lineup, 2-inch, 4-inch, and Linear, so a designer or integrator can mix apertures depending on the application, an Artafex 1 downlight in a hallway, Artafex Linear under a cabinet, without changing dimming behavior, color consistency, or the control experience from room to room.
CE Pro: On that note, could you explain to those who aren’t familiar with the system what PhaseX is exactly?
Derk: PhaseX is our digital lighting technology. It’s what gives our fixtures tunable white, flicker-free performance, and dimming down to 0.1%, all delivered over standard electrical wiring instead of specialty low-voltage cabling or wireless technologies. That last part matters more than people give it credit for. You get digital-grade performance without rewiring a house for it. It works with the popular control systems integrators already use, and a single driver can power multiple fixtures in a zone, with a gateway bringing that zone into a broader control system using DMX.
CE Pro: I heard you’re introducing a new gateway for that this year. What prompted this development?
Derk: More of our integrator base is running IP-based control backbones. They wanted our PhaseX gateway to connect over Ethernet directly, instead of having to introduce a DMX controller between the control system and the gateway. That’s a fair ask, so we built it. We kept the DMX input on the device, too. Plenty of integrators are running DMX-based systems that work great for their business, and there was no reason to force them onto a new standard just because we added one.
CE Pro: I am curious, with so many others getting into it, especially in lighting, are there any plans for DMF to introduce design services for its products?
Derk: We actually already do, and I don’t think it gets talked about enough. The idea is simple, you don’t need to be a lighting designer to sell great lighting, you just need to know when to bring in the expertise. We have amazing lighting designers on staff, and dealers can lean on us for the design thinking and still look like the expert.
CE Pro: Where do you see the whole home lighting category going next? Are fixture apertures just going to keep getting smaller?
Derk: Apertures will keep getting smaller where it makes sense, but I don’t think smaller is the whole story anymore. The bigger shift is what you can do with a small aperture once you solve for output, glare, and tunability, which for a long time you just couldn’t. I also think the category keeps pushing outward, quite literally, into landscape and outdoor. That’s still mostly landscapers’ territory today, and I think that changes as integrators realize they can extend the same control and design language outdoors that they’ve already built indoors.
CE Pro: Will these be at your booth for CEDIA Expo? Where can integrators find you?
Derk: Yes, all of it. Our complete downlighting portfolio, including Artafex 1, Artafex Linear, and PhaseX, will be at CEDIA Expo Booth #2106, including the new Ethernet Gateway. We’re also running PhaseX Training sessions throughout the show over at the Hyatt. Advance signup is required for those, but stop by the booth and we’ll point you in the right direction.
What’s one last thing you’d like to say for people coming to CEDIA Expo? Or even people who aren’t?
Derk: Come see the fixture before you make up your mind about what a one-inch aperture can do. A lot of people have a fixed idea of what’s possible at this size, and I’d rather show you than tell you. And if you can’t make it to Denver, the pitch is the same either way, quality lighting isn’t a luxury add-on, it’s one of the few things that changes how a space actually feels to live in every single day. That’s worth taking seriously whether or not you’re standing in our booth.
