Missed this question, sorry! Should you (or anyone else) still be wondering: A universe is a group of up to 512 DMX channels. With RGB lighting, it is common for a universe to only have 510 channels, as RGB lights require 3 channels (one each for red, green and then blue). You might be interested in our AusChristmasLighting 101 manual. The introduction section describes some of the common terms like Channel, Universe and E1.31. auschristmaslighting.com/wiki/AusChristmasLighting-101