With Wimbledon kicking off this week, the All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC) has unveiled a new state-of-the-art LED lighting system to improve TV broadcasts from its iconic Centre Court.
AELTC, which runs tennis in England, partnered with American-based Musco Lighting to install the new solution. It uses Musco’s “Total Light Control” (TLC) system and this can provide improved broadcast quality as it is better able to handle direct and indirect lighting for HD broadcasts. In addition to this, TLC offers light controls which can help to eliminate sunlight glare from either players or spectators. It will be in operation when Wimbledon’s Centre Court’s retractable roof is closed.
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Previously in 2014, AELTC decided to transition the lighting at Centre Court to an LED system and from this decision, it took more than two years to complete the fitting as the lighting technology has been custom engineered for the Court’s needs. Previously officials from AELTC visited Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York City, where the US Open is played, to examine Musco’s LED technology firsthand. During the planning phase, a mock-up of Centre Court was created at Musco’s manufacturing and research plant, where their engineers tested different key broadcast indicators, including Kelvin temperatures and Colour Rendering Indexes (CRI). Meanwhile a TV crew from the U.K. was also used to test broadcast quality during this phase of the project. The final fittings were installed in November last year.
“The purpose of the project was to improve the quality of lighting for broadcasters, whilst simultaneously improving the functionality of the lighting as part of the roof operation,” Robert Deatker, AELTC Estate Director, said in a statement.
“The expectations don’t get any higher than at Wimbledon,” added Jeff Rogers, President of Musco World. “We installed the previous lighting at Centre Court, and we knew the team there would put in the work and expected the highest level of performance, tailored to the venue’s exact needs.”
Musco will install its LED technology at Court Number One for the opening of Wimbledon in 2019.
Wimbledon is the world’s oldest tennis tournament in the world, dating back to 1877. This year Andy Murray is seeking to become the first British player since Fred Perry in the 1930s to win three Wimbledon men’s titles, while last year’s women’s champion, Serena Williams will not be taking part as she is expecting a child.