HALMSTAD, Sweden —Table tennis is serious business. When the 2018 World Team Table Tennis Championships were held April 29 – May 6 in Halmstad, Sweden, the tournament attracted a worldwide viewer audience of 400 million. When a world championship is on the line, all aspects of the production need to be in order, not least illumination of the courts and tables, which must work for TV cameras, a live audience and players alike. Lighting and sound rental company Tylösound AB served as the official technical supplier to the 2018 World Team Table Tennis Championships and used Elation Professional’s Fuze Wash 575 cool-white LED PAR moving head luminaires to meet the strict illumination requirements.
More details from Elation Professional (www.elationlighting.com):
Carefully Monitored Light Levels
Held at Halmstad Arena, with roughly 3000 live spectators each day, the event featured 8 days of live TV and was streamed live. Light levels onto three center courts — and every area of each court — were carefully monitored. “We required a measurement of at least 1600 lux on each 9 x 20 meter court,” stated Paul Aladin, owner of Tylösound AB, supplier of lighting, sound, smoke and LED screens for the event.” Working with Elation, Aladin initially based his calculations on the use of 48 Fuze Wash 575 fixtures per court. “We found however that we got measurements of 1600-2000 lux using only 32 fixtures per court so we were able to use fewer fixtures than originally planned. It worked very well.”
High Quality Light
Thirty-two Fuze Wash 575 fixtures were rigged above each of three table tennis courts at a trim height of 12 to13 meters — 96 fixtures total with 8 held as spares. A very smooth, uniform light quality was essential, something the Fuze Wash 575 excels at with an extremely accurate color temperature and high CRI of 95. “We measured the CRI all over the court at 95,” says Aladin. “It was very consistent and measured even everywhere, which was amazing.” Tylösound had tested the Fuze fixture a month prior to the World Championships at a European qualification tournament, also held in Halmstad, and found it produced the high quality of light they needed.
Prior to the first matches at the World Championships, players were consulted about the light quality and the response was positive. Aladin says that only small adjustments were made in directional positioning after the first few matches were played until all were satisfied, a positioning change easily done with the moving head luminaire. The Fuze Wash 575 was also tested for use with the super slow-motion cameras used on the event and the result was extremely good, according to Aladin. “I can tell you that even the Japanese and Chinese staff were very impressed with the lighting!” he said.
The Fuze fixture was used for more than court lighting however. The daylight white moving heads worked with color-changing moving heads during player introductions and music breaks, as well as a pre-event ceremony. On the tournament’s last day, while center court was lit for the finals match, special seating was brought in on the other two courts and spotlighted using the Fuze fixtures.
The Fuze Wash 575 houses a high-output 350W cool-white COB LED engine with motorized beam control, which Aladin employed when illuminating logos on the floor. The fixture has proven a popular choice when especially high demands are placed on the lighting and its lower wattage, lower weight and lower maintenance compared to conventional 575W discharge daylight PAR lights are added benefits of the LED solution. “Initially, some people thought it was too small and that LED would not be good enough for this project but it was a big success,” Aladin concludes. “I don’t know what else the light could have. It’s an excellent fixture.” The Fuze was suggested to Tylösound by Swedish lighting company Bellalite, who Aladin says they received excellent support from on the project.
