Canvas started as four (and then, a few years later, six) separate lights, but they have since been rebuilt into a single light with one controller to run them all in sync. This allowed the effects to flow from one frame to another, which made for a neat look.
I don't know what most people do when a major piece of electronics fails, but for someone like me, a big LCD display with backlights, speakers, panel, several diffusers, etc? It was whale fall.