Multiple nations currently place a greater emphasis on the growth of the sports business. In addition to supplying traditional sporting venues and equipment, sports lighting also plays a crucial role. Sports lighting refers to the use of artificial lighting in stadiums to simulate natural illumination during the day to maintain the continuity of sports. Even in adverse conditions and in all types of weather, competitions and training settings in numerous sports require optimal lighting.
Sports Lighting Specifications
To create a successful stadium lighting design, the designer must first comprehend and grasp the stadium lighting criteria, which include sufficient illuminance and uniformity of illuminance, the absence of glare lighting, and the use of suitable shadow effects.
- Illumination Requirements
The primary purpose of sports lighting design is to suit the requirements of football, athletics, hockey, and other sports. The movement of football occurs not only on the ground but also between 10 and 30 meters above it. The majority of track and field events are done around three meters above the ground. Sports like a javelin, discus, and hammer may exceed 20 meters in height. Therefore, it is required to maintain a particular level of brightness in all directions of a certain space height and ensure that the light dispersion on the ground is uniform. To satisfy the criteria of live color television transmission, particularly HDTV broadcasting, the brightness ratio between the athletes, the venue, and the audience must be a specified value. Illuminance horizontally, illuminance vertically, and brightness must be uniform.
- Illumination Uniformity
To ensure that television cameras can record high-quality images, homogeneous illumination is required.
Simultaneously, athletes and spectators will experience visual discomfort due to uneven lighting.
The criteria for vertical lighting, illumination homogeneity, and illumination gradient become more stringent the quicker an athlete moves and the smaller the equipment.
- Radiance And Glare
Both the camera and the human eye measure brightness as the intensity of the seen illumination. Therefore, the image’s contrast and backdrop are the most crucial aspects of its quality. For the visual comfort of athletes and spectators, luminance and glare are crucial factors. To avoid a too-dark background, a portion of the light should be directed to the stands. This not only lessens the glare of the crowd on the opposing stand but also improves the TV picture due to the brilliant background of the opposite stand. In most cases, glare is mostly governed by the intensity of illumination. As long as the audience and the athlete are coordinated, the glare issue may be resolved. This coordination is accomplished by the designer, who must take into account the light dispersion of the floodlight, the installation plan, the height of the lamp suspension, and other parameters.
- Shadow Impact
The great contrast between brightness and shadows impedes the precise adjustment of the TV camera, hence diminishing the picture quality. Too much darkness reduces visual comfort. On the other side, shadows are crucial for television transmission and spectators, particularly during football games characterized by fast-moving, high-speed passing. If there are shadow effects, the spectator cannot distinguish the objective from the players.
Purchasing Sport Lighting
A. Evaluate The Beam Angle
The beam angle controls the dispersion of light in the field. When the angle is small, light homogeneity is diminished. However, when the angle is broad, light regularity is high. Therefore, the lights you choose must have the correct beam angles to achieve equilibrium in the stadium.
B. Choose Waterproof Lights
Stadium lighting’s efficacy and durability are contingent on a variety of elements. One factor is water resistance. Since the lighting can be altered by variables such as moisture and humidity, this element cannot be ignored. Check the ratings to verify that they can operate adequately in extreme weather conditions.
C. Consider Heat Transfer
The stadium lights are susceptible to damage from overheating. A quality system must have enough ventilation. Therefore, while selecting the lights, consider those constructed of pure aluminum. Because advanced aluminum has the maximum conductivity, this is the case.
D. Glare Ratings
Even though most people do not consider the glare rate when selecting stadium lighting, it is a crucial aspect of sports lighting. This is because excessive brightness can cause ocular discomfort for football players and spectators.
E. Life Span
Choose long-lasting lighting that will not require replacing for several months or years. LED lighting with an average rated life of 50,000 hours is a viable choice. When used for 12 hours each day, quality LED lighting may last up to 11 years without replacement. This can help you save money in addition to ensuring that your lighting is adequately illuminated without imminent risk of failure.
F. Flicker-Free Illumination
With the arrival of 4k and 8k televisions, which display high-definition (HD) images and enable viewers to see even the tiniest of image details, proper lighting is essential for sports programming. In addition to complying with the European Broadcasting Union’s Television Lighting Consistency Index, modern cameras must also allow in the correct quantity of light and guarantee that the quality of light they utilize accurately represents the colors on the ground. For consumers of 4k and 8k televisions, flicker-free illumination guarantees a clean, high-definition, and comfortable viewing experience. In addition, broadcasters may improve image quality and illumination uniformity to provide viewers with an unrivaled sports competition broadcasting experience, ensuring that they will return for more.
G. CRI
CRI or color rendering index is a measurement of the color accuracy of an item when illuminated by a light source. The index is measured between 0 and 100, with 100 indicating complete lighting of the thing beneath the light source. This indicates that the thing will seem as it would under natural sunlight. CRI measures, in brief, naturalness, vibrancy, preference, hue discrimination, and color precision. Low Sodium vapor lamps have a CRI near 0, but high-quality incandescent bulbs and LED lights have a CRI near 100.
H. Waterproof Lighting Components Are More Durable And Rust-Resistant.
In addition to being resistant to moisture, waterproof lighting fixtures contain components that are robust and corrosion-resistant. These specifications apply to their power supply, adapters, optics, and any other accessories they may have. Not only may these components survive for years, but they also require little upkeep. A once- or twice-yearly inspection is sufficient to keep them in good functioning condition.
I. Accomplishing Illumination Uniformity
When it comes to establishing great stadium lighting, uniformity is crucial. Typically, this refers to the even dispersion of light throughout the region. And the scale spans from 0 to 1. Consequently, you should always guarantee that the lux level of all best sports lights is consistent, for instance between 550 and 600, so that the uniformity is close to 1, which is closer to the FIFA minimum of 0.7 J. Obtaining A Chill Temperature
A typical stadium needs a color temperature greater than 4000K. Therefore, it is always safe to work between 5000K and 6000K. This will result in daylight-like lighting with a cold white color temperature. This is advantageous for both the sportsmen and their supporters.
Choosing the proper sports lighting fixtures is essential for the growth of the overall sports business.
