How do We Choose the Best LED Sports Lights for Tennis Court?

Tennis is a fast, multi-directional aerial sport. The tennis ball may approach the players at extremely high speed. Thus, while illuminance quantity and quality are most critical; illuminance uniformity, direct glare, and reflected glare come in a close second.

When lighting a tennis court, the objective is to ensure good visibility enabling both participants

and spectators to follow the progress of a game. The ball, regardless of its location and speed,

should always be clearly visible. Creating good visibility requires sufficient contrast to be created between objects and their backgrounds, good illumination levels and even distribution of light across the playing surface (uniformity).

GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS

When planning a lighting installation, the following general design issues should be considered:

• The intended standard of play – this will govern the dimensions of the courts, the level of

illumination, uniformity, etc.

• Relevant government requirements and permissions in force locally.
• Installation and running costs, including maintenance, heating or cooling and light source

replacement.

• Access to and the cost of a suitable power supply.
• General everyday maintenance including cleaning and repair lighting units.
• The effects on others of spill light.

KEY TERMS

Horizontal illuminance

This is the amount of light falling on the court surface; it is often referred as lighting level. It is

expressed in lux (or foot-candles in the USA).

Eh average is the average value of the horizontal illuminance calculated/measured on the reference

grid.

Uniformity of illuminance

This is a parameter describing how evenly light is distributed over the court surface.

Emin/Eh ave. is the minimum value of the horizontal illuminance calculated/measured on the

reference grid divided by the average value.

Glare

This is the disturbing effect which impairs the vision; it depends mainly on the ratio between the

direct brightness of a lighting installation and the brightness of the court surface.

GR is the Glare Rating factor assessing the quality of the installation from a glare perspective

Colour temperature

This is the apparent colour of a light source; it is expressed in Kelvin (K).

Colour rendering

Colour rendering describes the ability of a light source to reveal and reproduce colours accurately.

It is ranked by the colour rendering index Ra (from 0 to 100) where the higher the index the better

the colour accuracy

Obtrusive light

Spill light, which because of quantitative, directional or spectral attributes in a given context gives

rise to annoyance, discomfort, distraction or reduction in the ability to see essential information. In

the case of outdoor sports lighting installation obtrusive light is considered around the installation

and not for spectators, referees or players within the sports area.

LIGHTING STANDARDS

Some National Associations and governments have set different requirements for indoor or outdoor lighting and may use different units of measurement. However, as a guide, the following shows the minimum standards according to the European Standard for Sports Lighting (EN

12193:2008) where:

• Class I: Top-level national and international competitions (non-televised) with requirements for spectators with potentially long viewing distances.
• Class II: Mid-level competition, such as regional or local club tournaments. This generally involves medium-sized numbers of spectators with average viewing distances. High-level training may also be included in this class.
• Class III: Low-level competition, such as local or small club tournaments. This does not usually involve spectators. General training, school sports and recreational activities also fall into this class.

Lighting recommendations for outdoor courts

Lighting requirements:

Source: International Tennis Federation(ITF)

Recommendations for televised events

Major events

Average horizontal and vertical illuminance ratios: It is recommended that the ratio for horizontal illuminance (Field of Play) is between 0.75 and 1.5 of the vertical illuminance for cameras.   Where there is HDTV all horizontal values for other cameras are as for HDTV.

National events

Measurements should be taken 1.5 m above the playing surface.

AIKO Layout plans for outdoor tennis courts