Lighting design

The photometric requirements for most sports common in Europe are summarised in table to table. For quick retrieval of the desired sport, the supplementary table contains an alphabetic overview.

The tables for sports lighting requirements contain

• the dimensions of the reference areas PA and TA for the sport in question,
• the vertical illuminance group for television and film recordings (TV), q.v. figure,
• average horizontal/vertical illuminance Ē_h,m/Ē_v,m values for the lighting classes I, II and III,
• uniformity as the quotient of minimum to maximum illuminance U_o = E_min/Ē
• lamp/luminaire colour rendering index R_a, and
• further figures as well as notes and design information.

It should be possible to reduce the lighting installation’s illuminance for lower competition requirements, particularly training operation, by switching. This also applies to physical education sports halls which have to fulfil high requirements for regional and national competitions as well. While conventional luminaires with CCG or non-dimmable LLCG require switching off individual lamps or luminaires, LED luminaires can also be dimmed down to the desired lighting level and thus keep their illuminance uniformity without change.

In combination with light management systems and corresponding sensors for daylight-dependent control and switching-off during periods of absence, LED service life can be extended in addition to significant energy savings.

Luminaires have to be ball-proof according to DIN 18032-3 and impact-resistant in sports hall equipment rooms (see chapter "Ball-impact safety").

Regarding the selection of luminaires and their light sources, safety, i.e. uninterrupted lighting operation, must also be observed. High-intensity lamps go out even during short-term mains interruptions lasting only a few supply periods and only become available again after a cooling and reignition period, which can take up to 20 minutes. Through new electronic control and reignition gear, high-effort technical measures for immediate (hot) reignition of high-intensity lamps have been simplified significantly.

Restarting LED luminaires is completely trouble-free. Since they emit the full extent of their luminous flux without any delay upon restart, and suffer no limitation to their service life even with many switching and interruption cycles, LED luminaires are especially suitable for continuous operation and represent the state of the art.

Lighting of a Snooker Table    Photometric requirements according to international sports associations