CASE STUDY

CS121 Bridgestone Achieves Perfect Display on Ice Case Study ©2016 Lumileds Holding B.V. All rights reserved.

Bridgestone Achieves

Perfect Display on Ice

Whether fans are watching the Nashville

Predators game live or on HDTV, CCT

tunable lighting in the Bridgestone Arena

delivers an unmatched viewing experience.

Challenge

The Bridgestone Arena is home to the Nashville Predators hockey team, but it also

hosts a variety of other events such as Monster Jam truck shows, NCAA games, stand-

up comedy and musical performances. In the past, general lighting needs were met

by the metal halide lights installed some 30 years ago when the arena was built. Metal

halide lights are inexpensive, but they require annual lamp replacement, frequent

cleaning, and provide poor lighting for HDTV cameras. Furthermore, the metal halide

lighting at the Bridgestone Arena did not have a shutter system, so light control during

hockey warm-up and intermission periods was particularly tricky. With the advent

of LED technology and in particular, CCT tunable technology, the owners and facility

manager of Bridgestone began exploring LED options.

The lighting requirement for the stadium went beyond specifications such as high color

rendering and different color temperatures – 5600K for hockey, 4200K for basketball

and 3500K for performances. With HDTV and 4k/8k pixel displays, there’s now a need

for high color fidelity, specifically stadium lights tuned for a high Television Lighting

Consistency Index (TLCI) score. With a higher TLCI, the HD image sensor in the camera

captures a higher fidelity image. The end result is improved visibility when it comes to a

small hockey puck traveling rapidly on ice, as well as truer color perception due to the

spectrum delivered by the LEDs. Finally, there is a desire to focus more light on the ice

rink, while limiting light spill to the surrounding stadium seats.

Solution

Lumileds worked directly with the lighting manufacturer, Eaton’s Ephesus Lighting,

to provide the sports lighting solution for the Bridgestone Arena. The approach by

Ephesus first was to consult with the camera crews working for the top broadcasting

networks in sports to determine the exact lighting specifications required for

HDTV capture, panning and slow motion play. While the trend by some lighting

manufacturers has been to simply increase the lumen output levels to achieve

better visibility, the folly of too many lumens was evident at another stadium lit by a

Challenge

To replace a metal halide lighting

system with an LED based system that

can provide the light quality needed

for a variety of events including

the 61st NHL All-Star game at the

Bridgestone Arena in Nashville.

Solution

247 metal halide fixtures were

replaced with 120 Ephesus Arena

Pro fixtures using LUXEON LEDs that

provide instant on/off performance,

3500-6500K tunable color

temperature, 10 year guaranteed light

levels, and full HDTV compatibility.

Results and Benefits

Light quality was optimized for HDTV

capture and improved visibility

while electricity usage dropped by

more than 80%, maintenance was

reduced significantly, and the project

is set to achieve a 2.5 year return on

investment. Installation of the LED

fixtures was performed completely

during game off-hours, making it a

seamless process to fans.

Arena Pro by Eaton’s Ephesus Lighting