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Sport and Technology investigates why excellent lighting is a prerequisite for a successful sporting event and which issues are shaping the lighting industry.
"The quality of lighting at an event is important to its success," says Malcom Gresty from UK Trade and Investment (formerly UK Trade Partners), a UK government body that offers support to companies based in the UK to achieve their export potential. "Because it is used to create a good atmosphere."
According to Fernand Pereira, general manager of sports lighting at lighting specialist Philips: "One percent of project budget determines 99% of the affects seen on TV. Therefore excellent lighting equals excellent pictures." Lighting is important not only for capturing the emotion of being at an event for a remote audience, but for other parties adds Pereira: "Spectators need lighting to see clearly what is going on from every seat, photographers need enough light for image acquisition to immortalise an event and advertisers rely on colour fidelity to promote their brand identity."
"Every single sport has its own idiosyncrasies regarding lighting requirements," explains Jade Clark, marketing manager of permanent lighting supplier Abacus Lighting. "Therefore sports venues holding multi-sport events need to accommodate the different levels of lighting required all from the same lighting system. And at large stadia, lighting levels have to be sufficient to fulfil CTV [colour television] broadcasting requirements. It is becoming more of a complex business."
An industry lighting source who wishes to be unnamed says he tries to get involved in a new venue "as early as possible and at the highest point in the chain possible. Stadia design is becoming more cutting edge and therefore architects tend to concentrate more on the aesthetics and have a different remit to us."
Pereira agrees: "It is important to get involved with the architect/engineers as early as possible in order to understand where the location of equipment is planned, to advise/influence modifications of building structure (e.g. catwalks, columns), to realise/optimise lighting designs, avoid costly/inefficient compromises in the lighting installation when the main building structure is completed, guarantee lighting performance for broadcasters and understand the decision making process."
Philips has supplied lighting to many sports events including Olympics, FIFA World Cups and Asian games. The company currently identifies several key trends in the high-end lighting business:
- a move towards entertainment
- more theatrical/dramatic experience in broadcasting
- improving spectator contrast
- more dynamic lighting systems
- multi-purpose venues
- more flexible lighting systems
- cleaner sharper images
- super slow motion images
- flicker-free images
- more fixed and mobile cameras
- High Definition TV
- reduce light pollution for neighbours
- minimise energy consumption (more efficient luminaires).
Pollution issues
"The control of light pollution is a key consideration at a sports event," adds the unnamed industry lighting source, "as is having back-up systems in place if lighting fails. Floodlights can take a while to warm up again if they fail, so a hot restrike facility will kick in and restore lighting levels within a couple of minutes. Power failures are becoming more infrequent though and are more likely to be caused by sabotage than technology."
With stadia becoming increasingly complex and demanding higher voltage levels, many of them are being built with their own sub-stations.
The move towards evening and night games in sport is being facilitated by wider use and subsequent development of white light sources such as Metal Halide that have a number of advantages including better colour rendition, allowing spectators and players to view the game more comfortably.
Says Clark from Abacus: "The biggest push for night games in the UK has come from the Lawn Tennis Association which has actively encouraged facilities to install floodlighting systems. This means they can extend their season and have people playing tennis all year round."
Twenty20 cricket, a limited overs cricket competition in the UK, has made use of floodlighting in order to play matches in the evening, although the lighting is not ideal during the dusk period where the light fades slowly before becoming dark. "Lighting at something like the Sticky Wicket competition in Antigua was more effective because the transition from day to night is more instant in the Caribbean," explains the lighting industry source. "The concept of evening matches in the UK is slowly taking off but is being held back by the planning permission for floodlighting required in built up areas. Some of the masts from temporary evening lighting are 40m high which can be very intrusive."
Abacus' Clark sums up the pros and cons of temporary versus permanent lighting: "The type of lighting you have really depends on the frequency of an event. For a one-off event, temporary lighting is cost-effective and will provide a revenue gain. But in the long term, if an event organiser can get planning permission, then permanent lighting is far more economic."
The above article is an extract from the Sportcal report Bidding and Hosting: The Guide to Successful Sporting Events, written by Rachael Church of ArkSports and Sport and Technology. For further information about the report, see http://www.sportcal.com/reports/full_info.asp?id=12
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