The 2015 Yankees LED Retrofit Project is a ground-breaking accomplishment that defines the future of sports stadium illumination. The pre-existing stadium lighting consisted of 486-1,500W HIDs, 176–2,000W HIDs, and 222–1,000W HID maintenance lights. All three systems (884 HID lights), were replaced with 692 individually addressable GigaTera SUFA A LED fixtures, which offers 1,384 adjustable panels to perfect the visual experience. When the proper controls are implemented, the actual savings will reach beyond 70% from the existing system.
Glare Comparison
The challenges resulting from the traditional HID system were overcome by GigaTera’s development of a new sports light fixture design. That innovative design relies on a narrow uni-directional beam of light that minimizes stray lighting and results in the following benefits:
Spreading out glare clusters
By spreading out glare clusters, players have a better visual experience at the stadium, and fans watching the broadcast receive a better quality image. The before and after comparison below shows how Giga Tera’s design strategy reduced glare significantly.
Double Aiming Points
By doubling the aiming points, the Yankees improved vertical illumination resulting in fewer shadows on the field resulting in more uniform lighting.
“On December 26th, when the lights go on during the game, the fans and players will be treated to something that they haven’t experienced before. 600 brand new LED lights have been installed at Yankee Stadium and will light the field like non other. It will be the greatest lit stadium in all of the United States.”
“On December 26th, when the lights go on during the game, the fans and players will be treated to something that they haven’t experienced before. 600 brand new LED lights have been installed at Yankee Stadium and will light the field like non other. It will be the greatest lit stadium in all of the United States.”
Flicker-Free Broadcasting
When broadcasting night games illuminated by HID lights, broadcasters’ ability to deliver slow motion replays is limited to 180 frames per second (fps). HID lights flicker at 120 Hertz and greater than 180 fps which can create an uncomfortable viewing experience. The Yankees’ new LED lighting system was field tested with a flicker rate of 0.2%, whereas the previous system had a flicker rate of 52%. As a result, broadcast engineers can now deliver ultra-slow motion viewer experiences of up to 1,000 frames per second without any perceptible flicker.
System Technology Flicker Rate
- Previous HID System 52%
- GigaTera SUFA A System 0.2%
“The use of dual head SUFA-A fixtures allows more uniform lighting with less glare. The most important part of the installation is the aiming of the fixtures which seems to have minimized glare to the players while still providing good lighting for television.”
