Which light is best as stadium lamp?

Most stadiums and indoor venues use high-intensity discharge (HID) lights for nearly all overhead lighting needs. On average, the wattage of a stadium lamp is much higher than other outdoor lighting applications such as billboards, roads and parking lots. While HID lights are very efficient, they take a lot of time to warm up and reach full brightness after going out. Last Sunday’s Super Bowl loss caused part of the Superdome’s stadium lighting to go out due to power outages, a feature that contributed to the length of the game delay.

According to a 2012 U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) study, 17 percent of U.S. lighting energy consumption is outdoors, and 83 percent of outdoor lighting consumption comes from HID lamps. Unlike other lighting types that can be found in a wide range of applications, HID lamps are generally limited to outdoor, warehouse, and industrial use because of their high levels of light output.

For example, a 60-watt incandescent lamp (or an equivalent compact fluorescent lamp that uses only about 14 watts) will produce about 800 lumens of light output per lamp. Most residential and commercial applications only require brightness levels of approximately 800 to 4,000 lumens per lamp per lamp, but HID lamps can provide over 15,000 lumens per lamp, making them suitable for use in venues such as stadiums, factories and warehouses, where large Areas where a lot of light is needed. Other lighting types, such as light emitting diodes (LEDs), incandescent and halogen lamps, are used in applications such as signaling, signage and other general lighting.

High levels of light output require a lot of energy. But in lumens per watt, HID lamps are about as efficient as other lighting types, if not better. As shown below, HID lamps provide 75 lumens of light per watt, making them more efficient than some other lighting types also used in outdoor applications.

One disadvantage of high intensity discharge lamps is their long warm-up and restart times. As witnessed by millions of viewers, last Sunday’s Super Bowl was interrupted for 34 minutes. The New Orleans Coliseum uses metal halide lamps, a type of HID, as their primary overhead lighting in the arena. After a power outage during the Super Bowl, it takes a few minutes to restore power, and then more time to turn the lights back on, or to reach full brightness after going out. Due to the way the lamps work, the restart time is usually longer than the initial warm-up time, and can take 5-20 minutes to reach 90% brightness. According to the Lighting Research Center at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, some types of metal halide HID lamps use different startup mechanisms that can reduce warm-up time to 1-4 minutes and restart time to 2-8 minutes.

LED stadium lighting has taken over the lighting market and more. This is because they are safe, consume less electricity, reduce energy costs, and provide bright light. The same technology is now perfect for LED stadium lamps. A good lighting solution directly affects a player’s performance. This is because it will help the players showcase their talents.

What indicators should be considered in scientific stadium lighting design?

1. Illumination standard indicators

According to the 83rd recommended illuminance requirements of the International Sports Federation and the provisions of Article 2.2.9 of “Lighting Design Standards for Civil Buildings” GBJ133-90, the following recommended illuminance standards are proposed:

  •  According to Article 2.2.9-1 of GBJ133-90 “Lighting Design Standards for Civil Buildings”: the standard value of illuminance for football field games: when the viewing distance is 120m, it is 150~200~300lx; when the viewing distance is 160m, it is 200~300~500lx ; When the sight distance is 200m, it is 300~500~750lx. The viewing distance refers to the distance from the last row of the auditorium to the sidelines.
  • According to the provisions of Article 2.2.9-2 of GBJ133-90 “Lighting Design Standards for Civil Buildings”: TV broadcasting vertical illumination requirements: The maximum shooting distance is divided into three groups. ①For football events, the maximum shooting range is 25m, and the average vertical illuminance is 750lx; when the maximum shooting distance is 75m, the average vertical illuminance is 1000lx; when the maximum shooting distance is 150m, the average vertical illuminance is 1500lx; ②For track and field events, the average vertical illuminance should be 25m That is 500lx; the maximum shooting distance is 75m. The average vertical illuminance should be 750lx; the maximum shooting distance is 150m. The average vertical illuminance is 1000lx. The above vertical illuminances are used for the given motion level and the value of the given maximum shooting distance relative to the 1.0m vertical plane, and the middle value of each illuminance value is used for other shooting distances.
  • The above illuminance is the final average illuminance of the stadium. The initial illuminance selected during design must be included in the maintenance factor. Typically, values from 0.7 to 0.8 can be used.
  • Horizontal illuminance uniformity: Illuminance uniformity is generally expressed by the ratio of the minimum illuminance to the maximum illuminance, and can also be expressed as the ratio of the minimum illuminance to the average illuminance. The ratio of the minimum illuminance to the maximum illuminance should be greater than 0.5.
  • Vertical illuminance uniformity: The ratio of the minimum illuminance to the maximum illuminance should be greater than 0.4 to meet the requirements of the main TV camera.

2. Stadium lighting brightness distribution

In the lighting design of stadiums, a comfortable light environment should have a reasonable brightness distribution. Excessive changes in indoor brightness can easily cause visual fatigue, but insufficient changes in brightness can easily lead to monotony. Therefore, an appropriate luminance distribution is necessary. CIE recommends that the visual clarity is better when the brightness of the object being viewed is 3 times that of the similar environment, that is, the ratio of the reflectivity of the similar environment to the object being viewed is best controlled at 0.3~0.5.

3. The choice of stadium lamp (LED lamp VS traditional lamp)

Commonly used stadium lamps are halogen lamps, high pressure sodium lamps and LED lamps. With the rapid development of LED system design, the application of LED lights in stadiums has become an inevitable trend. Compared with traditional halogen lamps and high pressure sodium lamps, LED lamps have the following advantages:

  • Long life, up to 50,000-100,000 hours.
  • Energy saving and power saving, the same lighting effect saves more than 80% energy than traditional light sources
  • low cost
  • Robust, eco-friendly and free of UV radiation
  • Recyclable waste
  • Does not contain harmful elements such as mercury
  • Higher luminous efficiency, LED output reaches 150lm/W
  • Fast startup and short warm-up time

4. Glare and strobe control: Glare and strobe directly affect the comfort of lighting

Glare is divided into direct glare and reflected glare. Direct glare is caused directly by illuminants; reflected glare is caused by the reflection of light from lamps or other reflective surfaces. There are three ways to control direct glare: select light-transmitting materials, control the protection angle (shading angle), and reasonably arrange the position of the light source. The main way to control reflected glare is to make most of the light on the work surface come from the appropriate projection direction, that is, the resulting directional reflection does not directly hit the observer’s eyes, but hits the distance or the side. Generally, as long as no lamps are installed above the observer, reflected glare can be better eliminated.

In the design of the venue to control glare, the lamps can use a high-efficiency reflective system equipped with anti-glare partitions, and the position of the light source can be adjusted according to technical requirements, so that glare and astigmatism are effectively limited. Control the projection direction and projection angle on the fixture aiming point setting, limit the glare, and make the glare index <50.

The occurrence of stroboscopic is mainly due to the periodic change of the luminous flux caused by the periodic change of the gas discharge lamp with the voltage. The commonly used method is to use the multi-tube phase-shift connection method of the gas discharge light source, or connect the three groups of fluorescent lamps to the three-phase power supply, which can reduce the fluctuation depth to 5%. Therefore, in some cases composed of multiple fluorescent lamps (lamps) In the light-emitting device composed of belts, light-emitting ceilings, etc.), the lamps should be evenly distributed and connected to the three-phase power supply in a certain phase sequence. When using two- or three-tube fluorescent lamps, it is recommended to connect the tubes to a two- or three-phase power line.

5. Lamp distribution

Whether the lighting arrangement is reasonable will directly affect the lighting effect and economy of the venue. At present, the common lighting methods in sports buildings mainly include the following methods: outdoor venues, light poles, four towers, multiple towers, light strips, lighthouses; indoor sports venues uniform type (starry sky type), light strip type (split field off-court), mixed.

In conclusion

No matter what industry it is, its core competitiveness is inseparable from technology. As for sports lighting, whose products have more advantages in “glare” and “heat dissipation” can have a greater advantage in the market. Not only does the Bbier stadium lamp provide precise control of the lights, but it has the best cooling system and is at the forefront of modern sports lighting.

If you have any stadium projects, please feel free to contact us. We can provide free lighting design to make the best solution.