With the World Cup around the corner, many stadiums have been prepared enough for the upcoming matches. With only 8 countries having won the World Cup, the stadiums require efficient and reliable lighting to help the players see what is happening on the field and for those watching on TV to have a better experience.
The worlds’ first international match was played in 1872 between Scotland and England at Hamilton Cresent. The technology had not developed as it is now and the lighting used may have not been sufficient for broadcasting the match. Power line equipment has developed over the years and it is now essential in the lighting of a football stadium.
Power line equipment mainly made form copper, aluminum and steel and are used to help support the overhead line components and prevent them from flowing to the earth. They include suspension clamps, guy clamps, secondary clevis, anchor rods, stay rods, secondary rack and yoke plates.
With the Premier League as the best football leagues, England has grown to be famous for the many stadiums it holds which include thee Emirates Stadium for arsenal, Tottenham hotspur Stadium for Tottenham, Etihad stadium for Manchester City, Old Trafford for Manchester United and the Wembley stadium. All these stadiums hold the best teams and clubs in the league that have impacted the many lives of fans around the world. This means that the lighting technology used in the stadiums is high quality for broadcasting for TV cameras.
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Indicators of Scientific Stadium Lighting Designs
Illumination Standard Index
There are illuminance requirements of the international sports federation of the lighting design standards that suggest ideologies of illuminance. Power line equipment are used to help secure the connections between the different light components used in ensuring there is efficient flow of light in the stadium. These include:
- Uniformity of the vertical illuminance
- Uniformity of the horizontal illuminance
- Vertical illumination required for TV broadcasting
- Football field game illumination standard value
Stadium Lighting Brightness Distribution
The cozy light environment should have an unbiased brightness distribution because when the indoors brightness changes too much it can cause visual exhaustion. On the other hand, when the lack of brightness is absent, it can cause a tedious feeling. Therefore, the recommended brightness of an object is best when its brightness is three times brighter than the similar environment. Most of the lighting equipment used in lighting the stadiums is mainly galvanized or made from stainless steel in order to improve the resistance ability to the different weather conditions.
Choice of the Stadium Lights
The most common used lights in stadiums include halogen lamps, high-pressure sodium lamps and LED lamps. The LED lights in stadiums have grown famous for their lifespans, energy saving and power saving, low cost, recyclable waste, no production of harmful elements, higher light efficiency and short warming up time.
Glare and Strobe Control
Glare and strobe directly simulate the comfort of lighting. Glare is divided into direct glare which is caused by the bright body and reflective glare is caused by the reflection of light from lamps or other reflective surfaces. Direct glare can be controlled by using a light transmitting material, controlling the protection angle and wisely arranging the position of the light source. Reflective glare can be controlled by ensuring there are no lamps above the observer
Light Fixtures Distribution
The common way of distributing lights in a stadium is mainly based on outdoor stadiums, light poles, four towers, multi towers, light belts, lighthouses, indoor sports venue uniform type, light belt type and mixed type.