View Olympic venue lighting with a professional eye

Olympic-level competitions have high requirements for venue lighting. This Beijing Winter Olympics coincided with the adoption of ultra-high-definition 4K/8K technology for television broadcasting, resulting in lighting environment requirements for competition venues that exceed those of previous events.

High illuminance is fundamental

High-level competitions often have live TV broadcasts or rebroadcasts, which require special assessment of vertical illuminance, including vertical illuminance in the direction of the main camera and vertical illuminance in the direction of auxiliary cameras.

According to the Winter Olympics general lighting standards provided by the Olympic Broadcasting Services (OBS), the vertical illuminance in the direction of the main camera at any location in the competition venue shall not be less than 1600 lx; some sports events may require more than 2000 lx.

Uniform lighting is key

Except for a few high-artistic-requirement projects such as ice skating ballet, all other ice and snow event venues require uniform and stable venue lighting with no variations in luminance or color; even minor flicker can damage television broadcast images. Domestic and international standards mostly adopt indicators such as Uniformity of illuminance U1, U2, and illuminance gradient; these are key indicators for live broadcast venue lighting.

OBS, in terms of uniformity, the ratio of maximum to minimum illuminance shall not exceed 1.5:1, equivalent to U1≥0.67; the ratio of average horizontal and vertical illuminance shall not exceed 2:1; the ratio of vertical illuminance between the competition area and the spectator area shall not exceed 4:1.

Comfort is the priority

The indicators for assessing comfort include the Glare Index (GR) value, Flicker percent, etc. The original meaning of comfort refers to its impact on humans; here it is used in a broad sense, encompassing not only human needs for a comfortable lighting environment but also the impact on cameras.

Glare from venue lighting must be strictly controlled to avoid visual impact on athletes. Typically, outdoor venues require a GR value not exceeding 50, and indoor venues not exceeding 30. For the Winter Olympics, outdoor venues require a GR value not exceeding 40 (for cameras), continuing the requirements of the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics.

The flicker percent requirement for Olympic venue lighting is less than 1%.

The above indicators do not mention color temperature and color rendering. Are these two indicators unimportant? The answer is no! They are equally important; however, modern TV broadcast technology is also advancing, so the requirements for the light source's chromaticity parameters are not as high as in the past.

For specific projects and venues, more detailed requirements must be met to ensure optimal lighting performance.

Spring Festival meets the Winter Olympics: double joy!